Lan Jianing, Wang Rong
School of Science, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, Xi'an 710600, China.
Brain Sci. 2025 Apr 27;15(5):465. doi: 10.3390/brainsci15050465.
: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that not only severely impacts patients' health but also imposes a significant burden on families and society. However, its pathogenesis remains unclear. Astrocytes play a crucial role in epileptic seizures and may serve as potential therapeutic targets. Establishing a network model of epileptic seizures based on the astrocyte-neuron cell coupling and the clinical electroencephalographic (EEG) characteristics of epilepsy can facilitate further research on refractory epilepsy and the development of treatment strategies. This study constructs a neuronal network dynamic model of epileptic seizures based on the Watts-Strogatz small-world network, with a particular emphasis on the biological mechanisms of astrocyte-neuron coupling. The phase-locking value (PLV) is used to quantify the degree of network synchronization and to identify the key nodes or connections influencing synchronous seizures, such that two epilepsy treatment strategies are proposed: seizure suppression through stimulation and surgical resection simulation therapy. The therapeutic effects are evaluated based on the PLV-quantified network synchronization. The results indicate that the desynchronization effect of random noise and sinusoidal wave stimulation is limited, while square wave stimulation is the most effective. Among the four surgical resection strategies, the effectiveness is the highest when resecting nodes exhibiting epileptic discharges. These findings contribute to the development of rational seizure suppression strategies and provide insights into precise epileptic focus localization and personalized treatment approaches.
癫痫是一种常见的神经系统疾病，不仅严重影响患者健康，还给家庭和社会带来巨大负担。然而，其发病机制仍不清楚。星形胶质细胞在癫痫发作中起关键作用，可能成为潜在的治疗靶点。基于星形胶质细胞 - 神经元细胞耦合以及癫痫的临床脑电图（EEG）特征建立癫痫发作网络模型，有助于进一步研究难治性癫痫并制定治疗策略。本研究基于Watts - Strogatz小世界网络构建癫痫发作的神经元网络动态模型，特别关注星形胶质细胞 - 神经元耦合的生物学机制。使用锁相值（PLV）量化网络同步程度，识别影响同步发作的关键节点或连接，从而提出两种癫痫治疗策略：通过刺激抑制发作和手术切除模拟治疗。基于PLV量化的网络同步评估治疗效果。结果表明，随机噪声和正弦波刺激的去同步化效果有限，而方波刺激最为有效。在四种手术切除策略中，切除表现出癫痫放电的节点时效果最佳。这些发现有助于制定合理的癫痫发作抑制策略，并为精确癫痫病灶定位和个性化治疗方法提供见解。
