Computational models of dentate gyrus with epilepsy-induced morphological alterations in granule cells

Abstract

Temporal lobe epilepsy provokes a number of different morphological alterations in granule cells of the hippocampus dentate gyrus. These alterations may be associated with the hyperactivity and hypersynchrony found in the epileptic dentate gyrus, and their study requires the use of different kinds of approaches including computational modeling. Conductance-based models of both normal and epilepsy-induced morphologically altered granule cells have been used in the construction of network models of dentate gyrus to study the effects of these alterations on epilepsy. Here, we review these models and discuss their contributions to the understanding of the association between alterations in neuronal morphology and epilepsy in the dentate gyrus.

Keywords: Computational model of dentate gyrus granule cells; Computational modeling of dentate gyrus; Conductance-based computational models; Morphology–function relation; Temporal lobe epilepsy.