Strong convergence with error estimates for a stochastic compartmental model of electrophysiology

Abstract

This paper presents a rigorous mathematical analysis, alongside simulation studies, of a spatially extended stochastic electrophysiology model, the Hodgkin-Huxley model of the squid giant axon being a classical example. Although most studies in electrophysiology do not account for stochasticity, it is well known that ion channels regulating membrane voltage open and close randomly due to thermal fluctuations. We introduce a spatially extended compartmental model in which this stochastic behavior is captured through a piecewise-deterministic Markov process (PDMP). Space is discretized into n compartments each of which has at most one ion channel. We also devise a numerical method to simulate this stochastic model and illustrate the numerical method by simulation studies. We show that a classical system of partial differential equations (PDEs) approximates the stochastic system as $n \to \infty$. Unlike existing results, which focus on weak convergence or convergence in probability, we establish an almost sure convergence result with a precise error bound of order $n^{1/3}$. Our findings broaden the current understanding of stochastic effects in spatially structured neuronal models and have potential applications in studying random ion channel configurations in neurobiology. Additionally, our proof leverages ideas from homogenization theory in PDEs and can potentially be applied to other PDMPs or accommodate other ion channel distributions with random spacing or defects.