Faculty Articles
Information Processing Mechanisms in Microtubules at Physiological Temperature: Model Predictions for Experimental Tests
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Biosystems
ISSN
0303-2647
Publication Date
7-2009
Abstract
Both direct and indirect experimental evidence has shown signaling, communication and conductivity in microtubules (MTs). Theoretical models have predicted that MTs can be potentially used for both classical and quantum information processing although controversies arose in regard to physiological temperature effects on these capabilities. In this paper, MTs have been studied using well-established principles of classical statistical physics as applied to information processing, information storage and signal propagation. To investigate the existence of information processing in MTs we used cellular automata (CA) models with neighbor rules based on the electrostatic properties of the molecular structure of tubulin, and both synchronous and asynchronous updating methods. We obtained a phase diagram of possible dynamic behaviors in MTs that depend on the values of characteristic physical parameters that can be experimentally verified.
DOI
10.1016/j.biosystems.2009.04.001
Volume
97
Issue
1
First Page
28
Last Page
34
NSUWorks Citation
Craddock, T. J.,
Beauchemin, C.,
Tuszynski, J. A.
(2009). Information Processing Mechanisms in Microtubules at Physiological Temperature: Model Predictions for Experimental Tests. Biosystems, 97(1), 28-34.
Available at: https://nsuworks.nova.edu/cps_facarticles/217
