Fractal dynamics in physiology: Alterations with disease and aging

According to classical concepts of physiologic control, healthy systems are self-regulated to reduce variability and maintain physiologic constancy. Contrary to the predictions of homeostasis, however, the output of a wide variety of systems, such as the normal human heartbeat, fluctuates in a complex manner, even under resting conditions. Scaling techniques adapted from statistical physics reveal the presence of long-range, power-law correlations, as part of multifractal cascades operating over a wide range of time scales. These scaling properties suggest that the nonlinear regulatory systems are operating far from equilibrium, and that maintaining constancy is not the goal of physiologic control. In…

• FI
  Fetzer Institute
• NI
  National Institutes of Health

  Award: P41-RR13622
• CF
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• NH
  National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• NI
  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• NC
  National Center for Research Resources

  Award: P41-RR13622