Bruno Burlando, Viviana Mucci, Cherylea J Browne, Serena Losacco, Iole Indovina, Lucio Marinelli, Franco Blanchini, Giulia Giordano
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引用次数: 1
Abstract
Mal de Debarquement Syndrome (MdDS) is a puzzling central vestibular disorder characterized by a long-lasting perception of oscillatory postural instability that may occur after sea travels or flights. We have postulated that MdDS originates from the post-disembarking persistence of an adaptive internal oscillator consisting of a loop system, involving the right and left vestibular nuclei, and the Purkinje cells of the right and left flocculonodular cerebellar cortex, connected by GABAergic and glutamatergic fibers. We have formulated here a mathematical model of the vestibulo-cerebellar loop system and carried out a computational analysis based on a set of differential equations describing the interactions among the loop elements and containing Hill functions that model input-output firing rates relationships among neurons. The analysis indicates that the system acquires a spontaneous and permanent oscillatory behavior for a decrease of threshold and an increase of sensitivity in neuronal input-output responses. These results suggest a role for synaptic plasticity in MdDS pathophysiology, thus reinforcing our previous hypothesis that MdDS may be the result of excessive synaptic plasticity acting on the vestibulo-cerebellar network during its entraining to an oscillatory environment. Hence, our study points to neuroendocrine pathways that lead to increased synaptic response as possible new therapeutic targets for the clinical treatment of the disorder.
期刊介绍:
Formerly the IMA Journal of Mathematics Applied in Medicine and Biology.
Mathematical Medicine and Biology publishes original articles with a significant mathematical content addressing topics in medicine and biology. Papers exploiting modern developments in applied mathematics are particularly welcome. The biomedical relevance of mathematical models should be demonstrated clearly and validation by comparison against experiment is strongly encouraged.
The journal welcomes contributions relevant to any area of the life sciences including:
-biomechanics-
biophysics-
cell biology-
developmental biology-
ecology and the environment-
epidemiology-
immunology-
infectious diseases-
neuroscience-
pharmacology-
physiology-
population biology