Resilience through diversity: Loss of neuronal heterogeneity in epileptogenic human tissue renders neural networks more susceptible to sudden changes in synchrony

Abstract

A myriad of pathological changes associated with epilepsy can be recast as decreases in cell and circuit heterogeneity. We thus propose recontextualizing epileptogenesis as a process where reduction in cellular heterogeneity in part, renders neural circuits less resilient to seizure. By comparing patch clamp recordings from human layer 5 (L5) cortical pyramidal neurons from epileptogenic and non-epileptogenic tissue, we demonstrate significantly decreased biophysical heterogeneity in seizure generating areas. Implemented computationally, this renders model neural circuits prone to sudden transitions into synchronous states with increased firing activity, paralleling ictogenesis. This computational work also explains the surprising finding of significantly decreased excitability in the population activation functions of neurons from epileptogenic tissue. Finally, mathematical analyses reveal a unique bifurcation structure arising only with low heterogeneity and associated with seizure-like dynamics. Taken together, this work provides experimental, computational, and mathematical support for the theory that ictogenic dynamics accompany a reduction in biophysical heterogeneity.