Stochastic Models of Neuronal Growth

Abstract

Neuronal circuits arise as axons and dendrites extend, navigate, and connect to target cells. Axonal growth, in particular, integrates deterministic guidance from substrate mechanics and geometry with stochastic fluctuations generated by signaling, molecular detection, cytoskeletal assembly, and growth cone dynamics. A comprehensive quantitative description of this process remains incomplete. We review stochastic models in which Langevin dynamics and the associates Fokker-Planck equation capture axonal motion and turning under combined biases and noise. Paired with experiments, these models yield key parameters, including effective diffusion (motility) coefficients, speed and angle distributions, mean-square displacement, and mechanical measures of cell-substrate coupling, thereby linking single-cell biophysics and intercellular interactions to collective growth statistics and network formation. We further couple the Fokker-Planck description to a mechanochemical actin-myosin-clutch model and perform a linear stability analysis of the resulting dynamics. Routh--Hurwitz criteria identify regimes of steady extension, damped oscillations, and Hopf bifurcations that generate sustained limit cycles. Together, these results clarify the mechanisms that govern axonal guidance and connectivity and inform the design of engineered substrates and neuroprosthetic scaffolds aimed at enhancing nerve repair and regeneration.