Size matters: Effects of the size of heterogeneity on the wave re-entry and spiral wave formation in an excitable media

Network performance of neurons plays a vital role in determining the behavior of many physiological systems. In this paper, we discuss the wave propagation phenomenon in a network of neurons considering obstacles in the network. Numerous studies have shown the disastrous effects caused by the heterogeneity induced by the obstacles, but these studies have been mainly discussing the orientation effects. Hence, we are interested in investigating the effects of both the size and orientation of the obstacles in the wave re-entry and spiral wave formation in the network. For this analysis, we have considered two types of neuron models and a pancreatic beta cell model. In the first neuron model, we use the well-known differential equation-based neuron models, and in the second type, we used the hybrid neuron models with the resetting phenomenon. We have shown that the size of the obstacle decides the spiral wave formation in the network and horizontally placed obstacles will have a lesser impact on the wave re-entry than the vertically placed obstacles.

Automated summary

The network performance of neurons is crucial in determining the behavior of physiological systems. In this study, we investigated the impact of obstacles on wave re-entry and spiral wave formation in a network of neurons. Our findings suggest that the size of obstacles plays a key role in determining spiral wave formation, with horizontally placed obstacles having a smaller impact on wave re-entry compared to vertically placed obstacles.