A Heterogeneous FitzHugh-Nagumo Model Exhibiting Local and Regional Dynamics that Mimic Spontaneous Atrial Fibrillation
Abstract
We study two-dimensional networks of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators in regimes that mimic cardiac tissue. The networks include small layers of cells that have fast-recovery characteristics and adjacent layers of cells that have slow-recovery. Numerical simulations show that the boundary between the fast- and slow-recovery cells can initiate fibrillatory-like behavior when activated by a single, healthy wave in the network. We discuss possible connections between these structures and the onset of atrial fibrillation, with the goal of improving our understanding and treatment of this costly condition. Our main conclusion is that a single, normal excitation of small areas of heterogeneity embedded in healthy tissue can initiate arrhythmias and the two dimensional network can then sustain irregular firing patterns in the form of double swirling-back curves and spiral waves. This occurs with a very simple model of excitable cells and we give a clear mechanistic description of the arrhythmia. The model illustrates how increasing heterogeneity in heart tissue can progressively cause first intermittent and then persistent arrhythmic behavior. Another conclusion is that the center of problematic firings can drift away from the heterogeneity into healthy tissue, thus presenting phantom targets for treatment.
Related
- Propagation failure in heterogeneous FitzHugh--Nagumo systems via coupled upper and lower solutions
- Periodically kicked feedforward chains of simple excitable FitzHugh–Nagumo neurons
- Analysis and stability of the FitzHugh-Nagumo system with rapidly oscillating Neumann boundary condition
- Continuous Data Assimilation for Memristive FitzHugh--Nagumo Neural Networks
- Minimax solutions for FitzHugh-Nagumo systems with critical exponential growth
BibTeX
@misc{hattoum2026heterogeneous,
title = {{A Heterogeneous FitzHugh-Nagumo Model Exhibiting Local and Regional Dynamics that Mimic Spontaneous Atrial Fibrillation}},
author = {Alexander Hattoum and Camden Kilton and Martin Mohlenkamp and Graham Walther and Qiliang Wu and Todd Young},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2609.16479},
eprint = {2609.16479},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16479},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - A Heterogeneous FitzHugh-Nagumo Model Exhibiting Local and Regional Dynamics that Mimic Spontaneous Atrial Fibrillation
AU - Alexander Hattoum
AU - Camden Kilton
AU - Martin Mohlenkamp
AU - Graham Walther
AU - Qiliang Wu
AU - Todd Young
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/15
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2609.16479
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.16479
AB - We study two-dimensional networks of FitzHugh-Nagumo oscillators in regimes that mimic cardiac tissue. The networks include small layers of cells that have fast-recovery characteristics and adjacent layers of cells that have slow-recovery. Numerical simulations show that the boundary between the fast- and slow-recovery cells can initiate fibrillatory-like behavior when activated by a single, healthy wave in the network. We discuss possible connections between these structures and the onset of atrial fibrillation, with the goal of improving our understanding and treatment of this costly condition. Our main conclusion is that a single, normal excitation of small areas of heterogeneity embedded in healthy tissue can initiate arrhythmias and the two dimensional network can then sustain irregular firing patterns in the form of double swirling-back curves and spiral waves. This occurs with a very simple model of excitable cells and we give a clear mechanistic description of the arrhythmia. The model illustrates how increasing heterogeneity in heart tissue can progressively cause first intermittent and then persistent arrhythmic behavior. Another conclusion is that the center of problematic firings can drift away from the heterogeneity into healthy tissue, thus presenting phantom targets for treatment.
ER -