Ephaptic coupling to endogenous electric field activity: Why bother?
Abstract
There has been a revived interest in the impact of electric fields on neurons and networks. Here, we discuss recent advances in our understanding of how endogenous and externally imposed electric fields impact brain function at different spatial (from synapses to single neurons and neural networks) and temporal scales (from milliseconds to seconds). How such ephaptic effects are mediated and manifested in the brain remains a mystery. We argue that it is both possible (based on available technologies) and worthwhile to vigorously pursue such research as it has significant implications on our understanding of brain processing and for translational neuroscience.
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Weak external electric fields shift the transmembrane potential of adjacent neurons and phase-lock their spiking.
“Application of weak oscillating external fields (of similar magnitude and frequency as endogenous fields) caused measurable changes in the intracellular fields and extracellular EFs and thereby shifted the transmembrane potential of adjacent neurones by ~0.5 mV.”
From The electromagnetic will (2021) · cites this paper as [69]
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“…applied weak fi elds modulate spiking, especially in tightly packed cortical and hippocampal circuits where the extracellular space is narrow and resistive (Radman et al., 2007; Fröhlich and McCormick, 2010; Anastassiou and Koch, 2015; Ru ffi ni et al., 2020; Pinotsis and Miller, 2023, 2026).”
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- Authors
- Anastassiou, C. A., & Koch, C.
- Affiliations
- Allen Institute for Brain Science (US)
- Corresponding author
- Anastassiou, Costas A
- Venue
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2015-04
- Volume
- 31
- Pages
- 95-103
- ISSN
- 0959-4388 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1989939019
- Cited by
- 171
- References
- 67
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 27 · 2024: 22 · 2023: 21 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 16 · 2019: 17 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 7
- FWCI
- 0.61
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Current Opinion in Neurobiology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Human Frontier Science Program (RGP0032)
- National Institute of Health (NS074015)
- Allen Institute
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural dynamics and brain function
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Neural Engineering
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biophysics › Electromagnetic Fields and Biological Effects
- Keywords
- ephaptic coupling, endogenous electric fields, artificial neural networks, synapses, brain function, translational neuroscience
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Brain, Humans, Membrane Potentials, Neurons, Synapses, Nonlinear Dynamics
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