Modeling of Astrocyte Networks: Toward Realistic Topology and Dynamics.

Neuronal firing and neuron-to-neuron synaptic wiring are currently widely described as orchestrated by astrocytes-elaborately ramified glial cells tiling the cortical and hippocampal space into non-overlapping domains, each covering hundreds of individual dendrites and hundreds thousands synapses. A key component to astrocytic signaling is the dynamics of cytosolic Ca which displays multiscale spatiotemporal patterns from short confined elemental Ca events (puffs) to Ca waves expanding through many cells. Here, we synthesize the current understanding of astrocyte morphology, coupling local synaptic activity to astrocytic Ca in perisynaptic astrocytic processes and morphology-defined mechanisms of Ca regulation in a distributed model.