Effects of colored noise on stochastic resonance in sensory neurons

Noise can assist neurons in the detection of weak signals via a mechanism known as stochastic resonance (SR). We demonstrate experimentally that SR-type effects can be obtained in rat sensory neurons with white noise, 1/f noise, or 1/f(2) noise. For low-frequency input noise, we show that the optimal noise intensity is the lowest and the output signal-to-noise ratio the highest for conventional white noise. We also show that under certain circumstances, 1/f noise can be better than white noise for enhancing the response of a neuron to a weak signal. We present a theory to account for these results and discuss the biological implications of 1/f noise.