Newcomb-Benford Law in Neuromuscular Transmission: Validation at Hyperkalemic Conditions

TL;DR

This study confirms that the intervals of miniature potentials at neuromuscular junctions follow Newcomb-Benford's law under hyperkalemic conditions, revealing fluctuations related to the number of intervals and discussing biophysical implications.

Contribution

It extends previous validation of Newcomb-Benford's law to hyperkalemic conditions in neuromuscular transmission, highlighting modulation effects and conformity fluctuations.

Findings

Miniature potential intervals follow Newcomb-Benford's law at high potassium levels.

Conformity fluctuations depend on the number of intervals analyzed.

Biophysical implications of the law's validity are discussed.

Abstract

Recently, we demonstrated the validity of anomalous numbers law, known as Newcomb-Benford's law, at the mammalian neuromuscular transmission, considering different extracellular calcium concentrations arXiv:2002.01986. The present work continues to examine how alterations in extracellular solution modulate the first digit law in the context of the spontaneous release of acetylcholine from the neuromuscular junction. We investigated if the intervals of miniature potentials collected at the neuromuscular junction obey the law in a hyperkalemic environment. The analysis showed that the interval between the miniature potentials at high potassium concentrations follows Newcomb-Benford's law. Also, our data allowed us to uncover a conformity fluctuation as a function of the number of intervals of the miniature potentials. Finally, we discuss the biophysical implications of the present findings.