Digital Realization for Ca2+ Waves Stimulated by the (mGlu5) Receptors

Astrocytes are known as electrically non-excitable cells, responsible for information processing and ubiquitously expressed through mammalian Central Nervous System (CNS). Any disruption on astrocytic Ca2+ signalling can lead to neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimer's Disease (AD). A digital hardware design for astrocyte model with metabotropic Glu receptor 5 (mGluR5)-induced Ca2+ oscillations is presented here. In this paper, a set of piecewise linear functions is presented for this model to reduce the hardware resources and digital design complexity. Hardware synthesis and numerical simulation validate that the designed circuit can mimic the biophysical Ca2+ behavior with lower hardware cost. This model can be utilized for large-scale neurophysiological system of astrocytic Ca2+ excitability.