From conformons to human brains: an informal overview of nonlinear dynamics and its applications in biomedicine

Methods of contemporary physics are increasingly important for biomedical research but, for a multitude of diverse reasons, most practitioners of biomedicine lack access to a comprehensive knowledge of these modern methodologies. This paper is an attempt to describe nonlinear dynamics and its methods in a way that could be read and understood by biomedical professionals who usually are not trained in advanced mathematics. After an overview of basic concepts and vocabulary of nonlinear dynamics, deterministic chaos, and fractals, application of nonlinear methods of biosignal analysis is discussed. In particular, five case studies are presented: 1. Monitoring the depth of anaesthesia and of sedation; 2. Bright Light Therapy and Seasonal Affective Disorder; 3. Analysis of posturographic signals; 4. Evoked EEG and photo-stimulation; 5. Influence of electromagnetic fields generated by cellular phones.