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Related Concept Videos

Diffusion01:21

Diffusion

Diffusion is a type of passive transport. In passive transport, a substance tends to move from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the concentration is equal across the space. For example, take the diffusion of substances through the air. When someone opens a perfume bottle in a room filled with people, the perfume is at its highest concentration in the bottle and is at its lowest at the edges of the room. The perfume vapor will diffuse, or spread away, from the...
Diffusion01:12

Diffusion

Diffusion is the passive movement of substances down their concentration gradients—requiring no expenditure of cellular energy. Substances, such as molecules or ions, diffuse from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration in the cytosol or across membranes. Eventually, the concentration will even out, with the substance moving randomly but causing no net change in concentration. Such a state is called dynamic equilibrium, which is essential for maintaining overall...
Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics01:17

Passive Diffusion: Overview and Kinetics

Passive diffusion is a critical process that allows small lipophilic drugs to cross the cell membrane along a concentration gradient. This mechanism's efficiency depends on four primary factors: the membrane's surface area, the drug's lipid-water partition coefficient, the concentration gradient, and the membrane's thickness.
When administered orally, drugs establish a substantial concentration gradient between the gastrointestinal (GI) lumen and the bloodstream, expediting their diffusion into...
Propagation of Action Potentials01:23

Propagation of Action Potentials

The propagation of an action potential refers to the process by which a nerve impulse, or "action potential," travels along a neuron.
Neurons (nerve cells) have a resting membrane potential, with a slightly negative charge inside compared to outside. This is maintained by ion channels, such as sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+) channels, which control the flow of ions. When a stimulus, like a touch or a signal from another neuron, triggers the neuron, sodium channels open, allowing sodium ions to...
Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion03:48

Behavior of Gas Molecules: Molecular Diffusion, Mean Free Path, and Effusion

Although gaseous molecules travel at tremendous speeds (hundreds of meters per second), they collide with other gaseous molecules and travel in many different directions before reaching the desired target. At room temperature, a gaseous molecule will experience billions of collisions per second. The mean free path is the average distance a molecule travels between collisions. The mean free path increases with decreasing pressure; in general, the mean free path for a gaseous molecule will be...
Propagation Speed of Electromagnetic Waves01:30

Propagation Speed of Electromagnetic Waves

Electromagnetic waves are consistent with Ampere's law. Assuming there is no conduction current Ampere's law is given as:

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Molecular Diffusion in Plasma Membranes of Primary Lymphocytes Measured by Fluorescence Correlation Spectroscopy
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Diffusing substances during spreading depolarization: analytical expressions for propagation speed, triggering, and

Bas-Jan Zandt1, Bennie ten Haken, Michel J A M van Putten

  • 1NeuroImaging, MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands. b.zandt@utwente.nl

The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience
|April 5, 2013
PubMed
Summary

Spreading depolarization (SD), a key process in stroke and migraine, is modeled using a reaction-diffusion equation. This quantitative model explains SD propagation and concentration changes of substances like potassium and glutamate.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Computational Biology
  • Biophysics

Background:

  • Spreading depolarization (SD) is a critical phenomenon implicated in neurological conditions such as stroke and migraine.
  • The precise mechanisms governing SD propagation remain incompletely understood.
  • A lack of elementary, quantitative, and physiologically relevant models hinders the analysis of SD.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop a quantitative, physiological model for the onset and propagation of spreading depolarization (SD).
  • To describe the concentration dynamics of excitatory substances during SD using a reaction-diffusion equation.
  • To provide a framework for analyzing experimental SD data based on fundamental physiological parameters.

Main Methods:

  • A reaction-diffusion equation was formulated to model the concentration changes of excitatory substances (potassium, glutamate) during SD.
  • The model incorporates four key physiological parameters: excitation threshold, release rate, removal rate, and effective diffusion constant.
  • The equation was solved to derive expressions for SD propagation velocity, concentration time courses, and the minimum triggering stimulus.

Main Results:

  • The reaction-diffusion model successfully describes the concentration time courses of excitatory substances during SD onset and propagation.
  • Analytical expressions were derived for the propagation speed and minimum stimulus required to initiate SD.
  • The model's predictions for potassium concentration time courses were validated against experimental measurements in rat brain tissue.

Conclusions:

  • The developed reaction-diffusion framework offers a physiologically grounded and quantitative approach to studying spreading depolarization.
  • This model enables the analysis of experimental SD data by relating observed phenomena to four fundamental physiological parameters.
  • The findings provide a valuable tool for understanding the complex dynamics of SD in neurological disorders.