Thermal effects and ephaptic entrainment in Hodgkin–Huxley model

Abstract

The brain is understood as an intricate biological system composed of numerous elements. It is susceptible to various physical and chemical influences, including temperature. The literature extensively explores the conditions that influence synapses in the context of cellular communication. However, the understanding of how the brain’s global physical conditions can modulate ephaptic communication remains limited due to the poorly understood nature of ephapticity. This study proposes an adaptation of the Hodgkin and Huxley (HH) model to investigate the effects of ephaptic entrainment in response to thermal changes (HH-E). The analysis focuses on two distinct neuronal regimes: subthreshold and suprathreshold. In the subthreshold regime, circular statistics are used to demonstrate the dependence of phase differences with temperature. In the suprathreshold regime, the Inter-Spike Interval are employed to estimate phase preferences and changes in the spiking pattern. Temperature influences the model’s ephaptic interactions and can modify its preferences for spiking frequency, with the direction of this change depending on specific model conditions and the temperature range under consideration. Furthermore, temperature enhance the anti-phase differences relationship between spikes and the external ephaptic signal. In the suprathreshold regime, ephaptic entrainment is also influenced by temperature, especially at low frequencies. This study reveals the susceptibility of ephaptic entrainment to temperature variations in both subthreshold and suprathreshold regimes and discusses the importance of ephaptic communication in the contexts where temperature may plays a significant role in neural physiology, such as inflammatory processes, fever, and epileptic seizures.