Interactions between reaction-diffusion systems and aggregated host environments are a subject of widespread interest. In this work, the behavior of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction was investigated in a micellar environment formed by the zwitterionic surfactant N-tetradecyl-N,N-dimethylamine oxide (C(14)DMAO). The appearance of an induction period with a threshold-like dependence upon the surfactant concentration, was detected at [C(14)DMAO] = 5.0 x 10(3) mol dm(3). These new features were explained in terms of the segregation ability typical of the amphiphilic self- assembling systems. Numerical simulations were also performed to confirm the proposed mechanism. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.