Speaker
Description
Sleep spindles are hallmark thalamo-cortical oscillations of non-REM sleep implicated in memory processing and emotion regulation. We develop and analyze a Wilson–Cowan mean-field model of a corticothalamo-reticular circuit comprising cortical pyramidal and inhibitory populations, thalamic relay cells, and reticular thalamic populations, to capture spindle-like dynamics at the population level. Particular emphasis is placed on neuroprocessing times within the circuit, modeled through weak Gamma-distributed delayed feedback. We study the system with and without distributed delays to determine how temporal effects interact with coupling architecture to reshape the underlying dynamics. Using stability and bifurcation analysis, we characterize the impact of delayed feedback and connectivity strengths on equilibria, oscillatory regimes, and transitions into and out of spindle-like activity. Our results show that timing acts jointly with connectivity to govern the emergence and modulation of spindle-generating dynamics. The model provides a mathematically tractable framework for investigating mechanisms underlying sleep spindle activity in thalamo-cortical networks.
