Collective Entropy in Differing Astrocyte Signaling Networks

Astrocytes are integral non-neuronal cells that process information uniquely in the brain. In order to understand this unique information processing, we employ symbolization to quantify the dynamics encoding in active, signaling astrocytes. While this technique has been employed for neuronal electrical signals, we argue that the slow time-dynamics of astrocytes are another unexplored area for this symbolization. From symbolization, we analyze the entropy and partitioned entropy of differing astrocyte networks. We show that astrocytic networks possess different collective signaling dynamics depending upon the morphological phenotype present in the network. Additionally, we extend this technique on the biomechanical excitability of astrocytes as well.