Biophysically grounded mean-field models of neural populations under electrical stimulation

Electrical stimulation of neural systems is a key tool for understanding neural dynamics and ultimately for developing clinical treatments. Many applications of electrical stimulation affect large populations of neurons. However, computational models of large networks of spiking neurons are inherently hard to simulate and analyze. We evaluate a reduced mean-field model of excitatory and inhibitory adaptive exponential integrate-and-fire (AdEx) neurons which can be used to efficiently study the effects of electrical stimulation on large neural populations. The rich dynamical properties of this basic cortical model are described in detail and validated using large network simulations. Bifurcation diagrams reflecting the network's state reveal asynchronous up- and down-states, bistable regimes, and oscillatory regions corresponding to fast excitation-inhibition and slow excitation-adaptation feedback loops. The biophysical parameters of the AdEx neuron can be coupled to an electric field with realistic field strengths which then can be propagated up to the population description. We show how on the edge of bifurcation, direct electrical inputs cause network state transitions, such as turning on and off oscillations of the population rate. Oscillatory input can frequency-entrain and phase-lock endogenous oscillations. Relatively weak electric field strengths on the order of 1 V/m are able to produce these effects, indicating that field effects are strongly amplified in the network. The effects of time-varying external stimulation are well-predicted by the mean-field model, further underpinning the utility of low-dimensional neural mass models. Author summary Weak electrical inputs to the brain in vivo using transcranial electrical stimulation or in isolated cortex in vitro can affect the dynamics of the underlying neural populations. However, it is poorly understood what the exact mechanisms are that modulate the activity of neural populations as a whole and why the responses are so diverse in stimulation experiments. Despite this, electrical stimulation techniques are being developed for the treatment of neurological diseases in humans. To better understand these interactions, it is often necessary to simulate and analyze very large networks of neurons, which can be computationally demanding. In this theoretical paper, we present a reduced model of coupled neural populations that represents a piece of cortical tissue. This efficient model retains the dynamical properties of the large network of neurons it is based on while being several orders of magnitude faster to simulate. Due to the biophysical properties of the neuron model, an electric field can be coupled to the population. We show that weak electric fields often used in stimulation experiments can lead to entrainment of neural oscillations on the population level, and argue that the responses critically depend on the dynamical state of the neural system.