title: Failure of feedback as a putative common mechanism of spreading depolarizations in migraine and stroke.
abstract: The stability of cortical function depends critically on proper regulation. Under conditions of migraine and stroke a breakdown of transmembrane chemical gradients can spread through cortical tissue. A concomitant component of this emergent spatio-temporal pattern is a depolarization of cells detected as slow voltage variations. The propagation velocity of approximately 3 mm/min indicates a contribution of diffusion. We propose a mechanism for spreading depolarizations (SD) that rests upon a nonlocal or noninstantaneous feedback in a reaction-diffusion system. Depending upon the characteristic space and time scales of the feedback, the propagation of cortical SD can be suppressed by shifting the bifurcation line, which separates the parameter regime of pulse propagation from the regime where a local disturbance dies out. The optimization of this feedback is elaborated for different control schemes and ranges of control parameters.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Theoretische Physik, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstrasse 36, D-10623 Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Dahlem
authors.forename: Felix M
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Eckehard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schöll
mesh_terms: D001703:Biophysics / Q000379:methods*; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013181:Cortical Spreading Depression / Q000502:physiology*; D004058:Diffusion; D025461:Feedback, Physiological; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism; D020521:Stroke / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors