The schedule and abstracts are available at:
https://brady.cs.cas.cz/events/ocns-2026-workshopIon balance is a fundamental determinant of brain physiology, and its dysregulation contributes to a wide range of neurological disorders. Understanding how ion equilibria are established, maintained, and disrupted across spatial and temporal scales remains a central challenge in neuroscience. Computational neuroscience provides a robust framework to address this challenge by enabling systematic investigations of ion dynamics under physiological and pathological conditions. Existing modeling approaches span a broad spectrum, from biophysically grounded models of ion concentrations, osmolarity, and cell volume regulation at the single-neuron level, to population and network models capturing ion exchange mechanisms, energy-dependent transport, and their impact on large-scale brain dynamics. Each modeling strategy offers complementary insights depending on the scientific question being addressed. This workshop will highlight recent advances in ion modeling and discuss emerging frameworks, their underlying assumptions, and their relevance for understanding ion mechanisms in the brain.
The workshop is structured to reflect a progression from fundamental cellular principles to network-level dynamics and global brain states, including resting state, seizures, and sleep. One focus is on detailed models addressing the physical and cellular foundations of ion homeostasis and its breakdown at the single-neuron level under pathological conditions like ischemia. Subsequent contributions bridge detailed cellular ion dynamics with population-level descriptions, highlighting how ion exchange mechanisms and energy-dependent active transport shape collective neuronal behavior. Further talks explore how chronic ion perturbations can drive pathological network dynamics and how intrinsic ion dynamics influence large-scale functional connectivity observed in resting-state brain activity. The workshop concludes with models illustrating how neuromodulatory processes interact with ion dynamics to generate and control global brain states.
