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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 12, 2026

Double-barreled and Concentric Microelectrodes for Measurement of Extracellular Ion Signals in Brain Tissue

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Published on: September 5, 2015

Effect of Ionic Diffusion on Extracellular Potentials in Neural Tissue.

Geir Halnes¹, Tuomo Mäki-Marttunen², Daniel Keller³

¹Department of Mathematical Sciences and Technology, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway.

Plos Computational Biology

|November 8, 2016

Summary

Extracellular space diffusion significantly impacts brain recordings by altering electrical potentials. This study developed a new model showing diffusion effects are relevant even at common recording frequencies.

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Last Updated: Mar 12, 2026

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Measurement of Extracellular Ion Fluxes Using the Ion-selective Self-referencing Microelectrode Technique

Measurement of Extracellular Ion Fluxes Using the Ion-selective Self-referencing Microelectrode Technique

Published on: May 3, 2015

Area of Science:

Computational Neuroscience
Neurophysiology
Biophysics

Background:

Extracellular space (ECS) potentials reflect neural population activity.
Current computational models often neglect diffusion's effect on ECS potentials.
Verifying the impact of diffusion on ECS potentials is crucial for accurate interpretation.

Purpose of the Study:

To develop and utilize a hybrid simulation framework incorporating diffusive effects into ECS potential modeling.
To investigate the influence of extracellular space diffusion on electrical potentials.
To quantify the impact of diffusion on ECS potential dynamics and power spectral density.

Main Methods:

Developed a hybrid simulation framework combining the NEURON simulator and the electrodiffusive Kirchhoff-Nernst-Planck framework.
Simulated activity and ionic currents from multicompartmental neuron models.
Modeled ECS potential and ion concentration dynamics, including diffusion and electrical migration.

Main Results:

ECS diffusion caused local potential shifts up to ~0.2 mV.
The power spectral density (PSD) of diffusion-evoked potentials followed a 1/f² power law.
Diffusion effects were dominant in the PSD of ECS potentials up to several hertz.

Conclusions:

Extracellular space diffusion significantly affects ECS potentials, particularly within the frequency range of typical experimental recordings.
The developed hybrid model accurately captures these diffusive effects.
This finding challenges the assumption of negligible diffusion in standard electrophysiological models.