Disinhibition-induced delayed onset of epileptic spike-wave discharges in a five variable model of cortex and thalamus

• Main Authors: Su Yu Liu, Qing Yun Wang, Deng Gui Fan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2016-04-01
• Series: Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience
• Subjects: bifurcation; spike-wave discharges; absence seizures; disinhibitory input; Delay onset
• Online Access: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncom.2016.00028/full

Based on a modified neural field network model composed of cortex and thalamus, we here propose a computational frameworkto investigate the onset control of absence seizure, which is characterized by the spike-wave discharges. Firstly, we brieflydemonstrate the existence of various transition types in Taylor's model by increasing the thalamic input. Furthermore,after the disinhibitory function is reasonably introduced into the Taylor's model, we can observe the occurrence ofvarious transition states of firing patterns with different dominant frequencies as the thalamic input is varied under differentdisinhibitory effects onto the pyramidal neural population. Interestingly, it is found that the onset of spike-wave dischargescan be delayed as the disinhibitory input is considered. More importantly, we explore bifurcation mechanism of firing transitionsas some key parameters are changed. And also, we observe other dynamical states, such as simple oscillations and saturateddischarges with different spatial scales, which are consistent with previous theoretical or experimental findings.