Walton Institute for Information and Communication Systems Science, South East Technology University , Waterford, Ireland.
Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Trinity College Dublin , Dublin, Ireland.
Open Biol. 2024 Sep;14(9):240138. doi: 10.1098/rsob.240138. Epub 2024 Sep 4.
In this study, we develop an model of a neuron's behaviour under demyelination caused by a cytokine storm to investigate the effects of viral infections in the brain. We use a comprehensive model to measure how cytokine-induced demyelination affects the propagation of action potential (AP) signals within a neuron. We analysed the effects of neuron-neuron communications by applying information and communication theory at different levels of demyelination. Our simulations demonstrate that virus-induced degeneration can play a role in the signal power and spiking rate, which compromise the propagation and processing of information between neurons. We propose a transfer function to model the weakening effects on the AP. Our results show that demyelination induced by a cytokine storm not only degrades the signal but also impairs its propagation within the axon. Our proposed model can analyse virus-induced neurodegeneration and enhance our understanding of virus-induced demyelination.
在这项研究中,我们开发了一种模型,用于研究细胞因子风暴引起的脱髓鞘对大脑中病毒感染的影响,该模型模拟神经元的行为。我们使用一个综合模型来测量细胞因子诱导的脱髓鞘如何影响动作电位 (AP) 信号在神经元内的传播。我们通过在不同程度的脱髓鞘情况下应用信息和通信理论来分析神经元间通信的影响。我们的模拟结果表明,病毒诱导的退化可能在信号功率和尖峰率方面发挥作用,从而损害神经元之间信息的传播和处理。我们提出了一个传递函数来模拟对 AP 的削弱作用。我们的结果表明,细胞因子风暴引起的脱髓鞘不仅会降低信号强度,还会损害其在轴突内的传播。我们提出的模型可以分析病毒诱导的神经退行性变,增强我们对病毒诱导的脱髓鞘的理解。