Mesoscopic neuron population modeling of normal/epileptic brain dynamics

Cogn Neurodyn. 2018 Apr;12(2):211-223. doi: 10.1007/s11571-017-9468-7. Epub 2017 Dec 26.

Abstract

Simulations of EEG data provide the understanding of how the limbic system exhibits normal and abnormal states of the electrical activity of the brain. While brain activity exhibits a type of homeostasis of excitatory and inhibitory mesoscopic neuron behavior, abnormal neural firings found in the seizure state exhibits brain instability due to runaway oscillatory entrained neural behavior. We utilize a model of mesoscopic brain activity, the KIV model, where each network represents the areas of the limbic system, i.e., hippocampus, sensory cortex, and the amygdala. Our model initially demonstrates oscillatory entrained neural behavior as the epileptogenesis, and then by increasing the external weights that join the three networks that represent the areas of the limbic system, seizure activity entrains the entire system. By introducing an external signal into the model, simulating external electrical titration therapy, the modeled seizure behavior can be 'rebalanced' back to its normal state.

Keywords: Autocorrelation; Chaotic attractors; Epileptogenesis; Limbic system; Limit cycles; Phase diagram; Power spectral analysis.