ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Comput. Neurosci.
Volume 19 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fncom.2025.1612314
Effects of AC Induced Electric Fields on Neuronal Firing Sensitivity and Activity Patterns
Provisionally accepted
- 1Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang, China
- 2Department of Library, ShengJing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
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Understanding how neurons respond to time-varying electric fields is essential for both basic neuroscience and the development of neuromodulation strategies. Here, we investigate the effect of sinusoidal alternating-current induced electric fields (AC-IEF) on the sensitivity and firing patterns of a two-compartment Pinsky–Rinzel (PR) neuron model. We developed a modified PR model incorporating AC-IEF stimulation and systematically analyzed firing responses across a wide range of field frequencies, amplitudes, and intrinsic membrane parameters. We find that neurons show no firing or sensitivity when the field amplitude is less than twice their baseline membrane potential (in millivolts), regardless of inter-compartmental conductance or potassium reversal potential. Sensitivity increases markedly with amplitude: for example, when the amplitude exceeds 0.5 mV/cm, maximum firing rates can rise by up to 45% and the sensitivity frequency range can extend to 10–50 Hz. Phase-locking phenomena emerge, including 1:1 and 2:1 locking between firing and field frequencies, with locking bandwidth widening as amplitude increases. For amplitudes below 30 mV, the sequence of firing pattern transitions with frequency depends strongly on inter-compartmental conductance, whereas for amplitudes ≥30 mV, all tested parameter sets converge to a consistent progression ending in subthreshold oscillations. Similar parameter-dependent transitions are observed for different potassium reversal potentials, converging at high amplitudes. These results reveal a parameter-dependent mechanism by which AC-IEF modulate neuronal excitability, providing qualitative rather than strictly quantitative insights into how external electromagnetic environments can shape neural activity, and suggesting new directions for targeted neuromodulation in health and disease.
Keywords: Firing sensitivity, Mean firing rate, AC induced electric field, bifurcation, Two-compartment neuron
Received: 22 Apr 2025; Accepted: 28 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yuan, Chen, Li and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiangyu Li, Shenyang Ligong University, Shenyang, China
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