Astrocyte and ions metabolism during epileptogenesis:A review for modeling studies

As a large group of cells in a central nervous system, astrocytes have a great influence on ion and energy metabolism in a nervous system. Disorders of neuronal ion and energy metabolism caused by impaired astrocytes play a key role in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. This paper reviews the existing computational models of epileptogenesis resulting from impaired astrocytes and presents several open perspectives with regard to ion and energy metabolism-induced epileptogenesis in a neuron-astrocyte-capillary coupled model.     

电磁辐射诱发神经元放电节律转迁的动力学行为研究

本文首先根据能量转换理论建立了电磁辐射影响下神经元电流变量模型, 然后结合Hodgkin-Huxley(HH)神经元模型研究了电磁辐射对单个神经元以及耦合神经元放电行为的影响. 结果表明, 随着电磁辐射强度的增大, 神经元放电率逐渐减小, 最后达到一个比较稳定的值. 神经元原有的周期型放电由于辐射强度的增大而逐步过渡到簇放电状态, 并借助动态分岔理论解释了这种放电模式的转换. 同时证明了磁辐射对单个神经元放电的影响可以通过神经元间的耦合传递到临近其他神经元中.     

Dynamical response of a neuron–astrocyte coupling system under electromagnetic induction and external stimulation

Previous studies have observed that electromagnetic induction can seriously affect the electrophysiological activity of the nervous system. Considering the role of astrocytes in regulating neural firing, we studied a simple neuron–astrocyte coupled system under electromagnetic induction in response to different types of external stimulation. Both the duration and intensity of the external stimulus can induce different modes of electrical activity in this system, and thus the neuronal firing patterns can be subtly controlled. When the external stimulation ceases, the neuron will continue to fire for a long time and then reset to its resting state. In this study, "delay" is defined as the delayed time from the firing state to the resting state, and it is highly sensitive to changes in the duration or intensity of the external stimulus. Meanwhile, the self-similarity embodied in the aforementioned sensitivity can be quantified by fractal dimension. Moreover, a hysteresis loop of calcium activity in the astrocyte is observed in the specific interval of the external stimulus when the stimulus duration is extended to infinity, since astrocytic calcium or neuron electrical activity in the resting state or during periodic oscillation depends on the initial state. Finally, the regulating effect of electromagnetic induction in this system is considered. It is clarified that the occurrence of "delay" depends purely on the existence of electromagnetic induction. This model can reveal the dynamic characteristics of the neuron–astrocyte coupling system with magnetic induction under external stimulation. These results can provide some insights into the effects of electromagnetic induction and stimulation on neuronal activity.