Is spreading depolarization characterized by an Abrupt, massive release of Gibbs free energy from the human brain cortex?
Open accessAbstract
In the evolution of the cerebral cortex, the sophisticated organization in a steady state far away from thermodynamic equilibrium has produced the side effect of two fundamental pathological network events: ictal epileptic activity and spreading depolarization. Ictal epileptic activity describes the partial disruption, and spreading depolarization describes the near-complete disruption of the physiological double Gibbs–Donnan steady state. The occurrence of ictal epileptic activity in patients has been known for decades. Recently, unequivocal electrophysiological evidence has been found in patients that spreading depolarizations occur abundantly in stroke and brain trauma. The authors propose that the ion changes can be taken to estimate relative changes in Gibbs free energy from state to state. The calculations suggest that in transitions from the physiological state to ictal epileptic activity to spreading depolarization to death, the cortex releases Gibbs free energy in a stepwise fashion. Spreading depolarization thus appears as a twilight state close to death. Consistently, electrocorticographic recordings in the core of focal ischemia or after cardiac arrest display a smooth transition from the initial spreading depolarization component to the later ultraslow negative potential, which is assumed to reflect processes in cellular death.
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There is a depolarization continuum between terminal long-lasting and short-lasting spreading depolarization and biophysical features of depolarization remain preserved as it spreads in tissue along a gradient of metabolic stress.
“It should be noted that there is a depolarization continuum between terminal long-lasting and short-lasting spreading depolarization and biophysical features of depolarization remain preserved as it spreads in tissue along a gradient of metabolic stress (Dreier, 2011;Dreier et al., 2013).”
From Evolution of neuronal and astroglial disruption in the peri-contusional cortex of mice revealed by in vivo two-photon imaging (2013) · cites this paper as Dreier et al., 2013
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References 82 · Cited by 94
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Leão AAP 1947 Further observations on the spreading depression of activity in the cerebral cortex J Neurophysiol 10 409 14 20268874
- Authors
- Dreier, J. P., Isele, T., Reiffurth, C., Offenhauser, N., Kirov, S. A., Dahlem, M. A., & Herreras, O.
- Affiliations
- Stiftung Charité (DE)
- Technische Universität Berlin (DE)
- Department of Neurosurgery, Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, GA, USA
- Department of Systems Neuroscience, Cajal Institute-CSIC, Madrid, Spain
- Venue
- The Neuroscientist
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-07-24
- Volume
- 19
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 25-42
- ISSN
- 1073-8584 (ISSN-L)
- 1089-4098
- PMC
- PMC3526686
- OpenAlex
- W2170373191
- Cited by
- 94
- References
- 82
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 10 · 2016: 10 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 8 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 3.55
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Locations
- The Neuroscientist (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DepositOnce (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) (submittedVersion)
- Technische Universität Berlin – Universitätsbibliothek
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01NS057113, NS057113)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Neurology › Traumatic Brain Injury and Neurovascular Disturbances
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Migraine and Headache Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Acute Ischemic Stroke Management
- Keywords
- spreading depolarization, Gibbs free energy, cerebral cortex, Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium, focal cerebral ischemia, cardiac arrest, electrocorticography, cell death
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biophysics, Brain Diseases, Cerebral Cortex, Energy Metabolism, Humans, Models, Biological, Cortical Spreading Depression, Thermodynamics, Chemical Phenomena
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