The Causal Role of Astrocytes in Slow-Wave Rhythmogenesis: A Computational Modelling Study
This work addresses the problem of understanding brain mechanisms in health and disease for neuroscientists, but it is incremental as it builds on existing computational modeling approaches.
The study tackled the origin of slow brain oscillations by developing a computational model showing that astrocytes introduce slow and infra-slow oscillations through calcium wave modulation, with potential links to diseases like Alzheimer's and epilepsy.
Finding the origin of slow and infra-slow oscillations could reveal or explain brain mechanisms in health and disease. Here, we present a biophysically constrained computational model of a neural network where the inclusion of astrocytes introduced slow and infra-slow-oscillations, through two distinct mechanisms. Specifically, we show how astrocytes can modulate the fast network activity through their slow inter-cellular calcium wave speed and amplitude and possibly cause the oscillatory imbalances observed in diseases commonly known for such abnormalities, namely Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, epilepsy, depression and ischemic stroke. This work aims to increase our knowledge on how astrocytes and neurons synergize to affect brain function and dysfunction.