An astro-neural-field model with application to cortical spreading depolarization

Authors

Baspinar E., Avitabile D., Nouveau C., Desroches M., Campillo F., Mantegazza M.

Abstract

We present a novel astro-neural-field population model with application to migraine-related cortical spreading depolarization. The model is composed of four spatio-temporal state variables: excitatory and inhibitory membrane potentials, astrocytic potassium uptake recruitment, and extracellular potassium concentration. Extending a previous neural field model, we incorporate activity-dependent astrocytic potassium clearance via a nonlinear term coupled to astrocyte dynamics. The astrocyte transfer function, like its neural counterpart, exhibits three regimes governed by extracellular potassium, capturing its effect on clearance. This yields a more comprehensive framework, better fits experimental data, and provides new insights into the mechanisms of cortical spreading depolarization.

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BibTeX

@article{baspinar2026astro,
  author  = {Baspinar, Emre and Avitabile, Daniele and Nouveau, Camilla and Desroches, Mathieu and Campillo, Fabien and Mantegazza, Massimiliano},
  title   = {An astro-neural-field model with application to cortical spreading depolarization},
  journal = {Journal of Computational Neuroscience},
  year    = {2026},
  volume  = {54},
  number  = {3},
  pages   = {559--576},
  doi     = {10.1007/s10827-026-00948-3}
}