An analog circuit implementation of a Huber-Braun cold receptor neuron model.

We present the design and implementation of an electronic device that, using off the shelf discrete analog components, implements the mathematical model of a cold receptor neuron called Huber-Braun. This model describes the electrical behavior of certain kinds of receptors when interacting with their environment, and it consists of a set of differential equations that has only been solved by numeric simulations. By these means a chaotic behavior has been found. An analog computer can be relevant for further analysis and validation of the model. The results obtained by means of numeric simulations and through our analog circuit simulator are consistent. In particular, temperature and external current bifurcation diagrams were successfully built. Finally, the electronic device allows the observation of all relevant variables and most of the expected behavior (tonic firing, chaotic, burst discharge, subthreshold oscillation and steady state).