Graph-Based Models of Cortical Axons for the Prediction of Neuronal Response to Extracellular Electrical Stimulation

Over the past decade, many important insights to brain function have been obtained through clever application of detailed compartmental model neurons. New computing capabilities brought opportunities to study large networks of model neurons. Certain applications for these models, such as extracellular electrical stimulation, demand a very high degree of biological realism. While dendrites and somatic morphology may be obtained from explicit reconstructions, this approach is less useful for axonal structures, which are more difficult to characterize across a neuronal population. The purpose of this paper is to extend neuronal morphology generative models to highly branched axon terminal arbors as well as to present a clear use-case for such models in the study of cortical tissue response to externally applied electric fields. The results of this work are (i) presentation and quantitative/qualitative description of generated fibers and (ii) an extracellular electrical stimulation strength-duration study.