Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder, but its pathogenesis is not fully understood. Recent studies have shown that astrocytes play a crucial role in epileptic seizures and may serve as a target for epilepsy treatment. Based on the clinical epileptic EEG features, the establishment of a matching neuron-astrocyte population model contributes to further research on seizure mechanisms and the development of epilepsy suppression strategies. In this paper, based on the spontaneous seizure dynamic model of focal epilepsy and considering the relationship between astrocyte Ca2+ fluctuation and neuronal population firing frequency, we established a neuronal-astrocyte populations coupled focal epileptic seizure dynamics model, explored the effect of astrocyte population on seizure dynamics behavior, and simulated stimulation treatment for focal epilepsy. The coupling parameters of the astrocyte to neuron populations can drive the model to exhibit three types of focal seizure patterns, which are commonly characterized by glutamate overexpression of the astrocyte population. The first of these patterns of epileptic discharges can be suppressed by adjusting the coupling parameters between astrocyte and neuron populations, whereas the remaining two cannot be suppressed by parameter adjustments. A constant stimulation can change the three epileptic discharges into periodic discharges, but too large or too small stimulation cannot completely inhibit the first epileptic discharge. The high-frequency and strong-amplitude square-wave stimulation can effectively inhibit the three epileptic discharges.
兰佳宁,王荣,成昕鸿.星形胶质细胞调控局灶性癫痫发作动力学与控制[J].动力学与控制学报,2025,23(1):59~68; Lan Jianing, Wang Rong, Cheng Xinhong. The Dynamics and Control of Focal Epilepsy Modulated by Astrocytes[J]. Journal of Dynamics and Control,2025,23(1):59-68.