Switching behavior of the gamma power in the neuronal network modulated by the astrocytes

Understanding the dynamical neural gamma oscillation during brain state switch has been accepted as a critical step to explain attention and related human behaviors. Recent experimental studies have found a specific pulse of gamma power traces, coexisting with a pulse of functional magnetic resonance imaging with energy consumption by utilizing intracranial electroencephalography and neuroimaging. This phenomenon implies that the gamma oscillation is crucial in the success of the attention switching process after the attention task termination. However, until now no experimental evidence exists that explains how this type of gamma oscillation occurs and participates in the attention switching process. In this paper, the neuron-astrocyte-capillary network model was established, by utilizing the mathematical models of neurons and astrocytes that could explain the micro-scale behavior of neurons and investigated the formation process of this type of gamma oscillation. Our simulation results showed that the astrocyte calcium activity was pivotal in the occurrence of gamma oscillation after the attention task termination, and properly explained the underlying mechanisms of the dynamical switching of brain neuronal networks.