Unification in the control of spikes, seizures, and spreading depression

The pathological phenomena of spikes, seizures and spreading depression have long been considered separate physiological events in the brain. By incorporating conservation of particles and charge, and accounting for the energy required to restore ionic gradients, we have recently extended the classic Hodgkin-Huxley formalism to uncover a unification of neuronal membrane dynamics (J Neuroscience 34:11733-11743, 2014). We now account for a wide range of neuronal activities, from spikes to seizures, spreading depression, mixed seizure and spreading depression states, and the terminal anoxic “wave of death”. Such a unified framework demonstrates that all of these dynamics lie along a continuum of the repertoire of the neuron membrane. Our results demonstrate that unified frameworks for neuronal dynamics are feasible, can be achieved using existing biological structures and universal physical conservation principles, and can be utilized within a model based control framework in neural systems. Such a framework may be of substantial importance in enabling our further understanding of brain activity and in the control of pathological states.