TY - JOUR
T1 - Modeling of inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields in the nervous system
T2 - a novel paradigm in understanding cell interactions, disease etiology and therapy
AU - Isakovic, Jasmina
AU - Dobbs-Dixon, Ian
AU - Chaudhury, Dipesh
AU - Mitrecic, Dinko
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank Dr. Francesco Arneodo who helped edit and revise the manuscript and refine the idea. We also thank Dr. Ivan Alic and Dr. Sinisa Skokic who assisted in performing the in vivo MRI cell tracking study. This work has been supported by YoungBrain (EU ESF 3.2.01-0180), two grants by the Croatian Science Foundation (IP-2016-06-9451 and a PhD grant) awarded to D.M. and co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund, Operational Programme Competitiveness and Cohesion, grant agreement No. KK.01.1.1.01.0007, CoRE - Neuro and New York University Abu Dhabi Research Funding awarded to J.I. Authors express a special gratitude to Mr. Paul Gillcrist and his foundation. Figures 1–3 are derivatives of work on Mind the Graph platform by J.I., on https://mindthegraph.com/, and are used and licensed under the CC BY-SA license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, The Author(s).
PY - 2018/12/1
Y1 - 2018/12/1
N2 - All major processes in the nervous system depend on interactions between cells and nerve fibers. In this work we present a novel model of inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields originating from nerve fibers and delineate their influence on cells. By expanding Hodgkin-Huxley’s applied current into axial current, governed byJij+1=K×Jij, we reveal that cell-with-neuron interactions are regulated by the strength of the electromagnetic fields, which are homogeneous up to 2.066 μm or 6.606 μm away from neurilemma and axolemma, respectively. At the nodes of Ranvier, these fields reach strengths of 3.0 × 10−12T, while at the myelinated segments they only peak at 2.3 × 10−12T. These are the same fields which are, due to inhomogeneity, detected as 1,000 times weaker by magnetoencephalography. Considering the widespread occurrence of neurodegenerative disorders, our model reveals that a 50% demyelination increases the field strength by 0.35 × 10−12T, while a complete demyelination increases it by 0.7 × 10−12T. Since this suggests that the inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields around neurons play a role in physiological and pathological processes, including cell-to-neuron and cell-to-cell communication, their improved understanding opens up new therapeutic strategies based on electromagnetic field modulation or cell’s surface charge alteration.
AB - All major processes in the nervous system depend on interactions between cells and nerve fibers. In this work we present a novel model of inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields originating from nerve fibers and delineate their influence on cells. By expanding Hodgkin-Huxley’s applied current into axial current, governed byJij+1=K×Jij, we reveal that cell-with-neuron interactions are regulated by the strength of the electromagnetic fields, which are homogeneous up to 2.066 μm or 6.606 μm away from neurilemma and axolemma, respectively. At the nodes of Ranvier, these fields reach strengths of 3.0 × 10−12T, while at the myelinated segments they only peak at 2.3 × 10−12T. These are the same fields which are, due to inhomogeneity, detected as 1,000 times weaker by magnetoencephalography. Considering the widespread occurrence of neurodegenerative disorders, our model reveals that a 50% demyelination increases the field strength by 0.35 × 10−12T, while a complete demyelination increases it by 0.7 × 10−12T. Since this suggests that the inhomogeneous electromagnetic fields around neurons play a role in physiological and pathological processes, including cell-to-neuron and cell-to-cell communication, their improved understanding opens up new therapeutic strategies based on electromagnetic field modulation or cell’s surface charge alteration.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85052283264&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85052283264&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41598-018-31054-9
DO - 10.1038/s41598-018-31054-9
M3 - Article
C2 - 30150694
AN - SCOPUS:85052283264
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 8
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
IS - 1
M1 - 12909
ER -