Implantation of electrodes in the brain induces a state of neuroinflammation, which is thought to be detrimental for the neurons surrounding the electrode. Mechanisms of this type of neuroinflammation are still poorly understood. Recent experimental and theoretical results point to the  role of diffusing species in this process. A recently published paper in Journal of Theoretical  Biology considers a model of anomalous diffusion occurring in the glial scar around a chronic implant in several conditons. The model is based on fractional-order Fick law, which is derived from physically realistic assumptions..

Highlights

• Cell migration and diffusion of species about an implant have been modeled.
• Asymptotic behavior of the model has been investigated.
• Closed form solutions of fractional order have been obtained.
• Impact of the boundary conditions has been established.

 

A pre-print version is accessible on ArXiv.