Aperiodic stochastic resonance in excitable systems.

Stochastic resonance (SR) is a phenomenon wherein the response of a nonlin-ear system to a weak periodic input signal is optimized by the presence of a particular level of noise. Here we present a new method and theory for characterizing SR-type behavior in excitable systems with aperiodic inputs. These novel developments demonstrate that noise can serve to enhance the response of a nonlinear system to a weak input signal, regardless of whether the signal is periodic or aperiodic.