Self-organized criticality in single-neuron excitability.

We present experimental and theoretical arguments, at the single neuron level, suggesting that neuronal response fluctuations reflect a process that positions the neuron near a transition point that separates excitable and unexcitable phases. This view is supported by the dynamical properties of the system as observed in experiments on isolated cultured cortical neurons, as well as by a theoretical mapping between the constructs of self organized criticality and membrane excitability biophysics.