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The Active and Passive Components of Neuronal Excitation and its Glial Support

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Abstract

Excitation mechanisms in the nervous system and neuronal–glial interactions involved in this process are described on the basis of published data and original findings. Two processes, passive and active, form excitation in the nervous system. The active type of excitation requires energy support and is associated with the regulation of the membrane properties of neurons, leading to generation of variable spontaneous pulses. Spike activity generated by the passive process is highly stable and results from transmembrane movement of Na+ and K+ ions along their concentration gradients. The passive type of excitation is due to glutamatergic contacts; the active type of excitation is due to a diffuse release of acetylcholine from cholinergic nuclei of the brain and attenuation of K+ membrane permeability. Energy supply of the active excitation process involves glia. Glial cells directly interact with brain vessels, accumulate glucose in the form of glycogen, realise glycolysis as the first step of energy metabolism, and regulate local cerebral blood flow coupled with M-cholinergic excitation of neurons. A steady decrease in the rate of the M-cholinergic process (in terms of concentration, temperature, or energy) leads to a rapid outflow of K+ ions from neurons, and removing K+ from the intercellular environment is also a function of glia.

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Funding

This work received long-term support from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117485, Moscow, Russia

    Yu. S. Mednikova & N. V. Pasikova

  2. Neurology Research Center, Russian Academy of Sciences, 125367, Moscow, Russia

    D. N. Voronkov & R. M. Khudoerkov

  3. Institute of Cell Biophysics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 142290, Pushchino, Moscow oblast, Russia

    N. M. Zakharova

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  1. Yu. S. Mednikova
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  2. D. N. Voronkov
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Correspondence to Yu. S. Mednikova.

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Translated by T. Tkacheva

Abbreviations: EPSP, excitatory postsynaptic potential.

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Mednikova, Y.S., Voronkov, D.N., Khudoerkov, R.M. et al. The Active and Passive Components of Neuronal Excitation and its Glial Support. BIOPHYSICS 66, 642–656 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0006350921040126

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