In this paper we present a  mathematical model of tripartite synapses, where astrocytes mediate information flow from the pre-synaptic to the post-synaptic neuron . The model consists of a pre-synaptic bouton, a post-synaptic dendritic spine head , a synaptic cleft and a perisynaptic astrocyte controlling Ca2+ dynamics inside the synaptic bouton. This in turn controls glutamate release dynamics in the cleft. As a consequence of this, glutamate concentration in the cleft has been modeled, in which glutamate reuptake by astrocytes has also been incorporated. Finally, dendritic spine head dynamics has been modeled. As an application, this model clearly shows synaptic potentiation in the hippocampal region, i.e., astrocyte Ca2+ mediates synaptic plasticity, which is in conformity with the majority of the recent findings   .
In this paper we present a biologically detailed mathematical model of tripartite synapses, where astrocytes modulate short-term synaptic plasticity . The model consists of a pre-synaptic bouton, a post-synaptic dendritic spine-head , a synaptic cleft and a peri-synaptic astrocyte controlling Ca2+ dynamics inside the synaptic bouton. This in turn controls glutamate release dynamics in the cleft. As a consequence of this, glutamate concentration in the cleft has been modeled, in which glutamate reuptake by astrocytes has also been incorporated. Finally, dendritic spine-head dynamics has been modeled. As an application, this model clearly shows synaptic potentiation in the hippocampal region, i.e., astrocyte Ca2+ mediates synaptic plasticity, which is in conformity with the majority of the recent findings (Perea Araque, 2007; Henneberger et al., 2010) .
A
biologically detailed
R
mediate information flow from the pre-synaptic to the post-synaptic neuron
modulate short-term synaptic plasticity
R
spine head
spine-head
R
perisynaptic
peri-synaptic
R
spine head
spine-head
A
(Perea
A
Araque, 2007; Henneberger et al., 2010)