Neural activities of neuron–Astrocyte network under environmental disturbances: Numerical analysis and hardware experiments

Abstract

The normal functioning of the actual brain relies on the collaborative efforts of neurons across multiple functional regions as well as the support and regulation of astrocytes, and its operating environment is both intricate and diverse. Hence, to replicate the electrophysiological properties of the central nervous system more accurately, it is essential to take the neuronal heterogeneity, the role of astrocytes, and environmental effects into account together. To this end, a neuron–astrocyte network comprising an Hindmarsh-Rose (HR) neuron, a FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) neuron, and an astrocyte, is proposed in this paper. The network is subjected to a complex environment to mimic the neural firing activities in biological reality. Several numerical analyses are performed to reveal the effects of the environments on the firing activities and the role of the astrocyte on the heterogeneous neuron network. It is found that the astrocyte can reduce coupling strength through neurotransmitter transmission, allowing for real-time regulation of coupling strength between neurons. More interestingly, environmental changes can alter the firing patterns of the neuron–astrocyte network, and greater electromagnetic radiation intensity and higher temperature may contribute to the firing synchronization between the coupled neurons. Finally, a hardware implementation based on the DSP platform is constructed to verify the correctness and feasibility of the neuron–astrocyte network under the interference of complex environment.