Definition
Astrocytes are a predominant type of glia in the central nervous system. Although they do not generate electrical signals like neurons, they display a form of excitability characterized by fluctuations in their intracellular Ca2+ levels. These Ca2+ fluctuations show remarkable spatiotemporal complexity and diversity and further respond to various cellular stimuli. Modeling astrocyte Ca2+ dynamics is an essential step toward understanding their physiology and functions within neural circuits. This entry highlights the computational methods and approaches for modeling intracellular Ca2+ signals in astrocytes at the single cell level.
Detailed Description
Astrocytes are ubiquitously distributed throughout the central nervous system. Each astrocyte can display a complex morphology characterized by distinct compartments: the soma, primary branches and numerous fine processes, also referred to as branchlets. The latter account for around 75% of the surface of the astrocytic plasma...
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Denizot, A., Berry, H., Venugopal, S. (2020). Intracellular Calcium Signals in Astrocytes, Computational Modeling of. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_100693-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_100693-1
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