Reaction-subdiffusion front propagation in a comblike model of spiny dendrites

Fractional reaction-diffusion equations are derived by exploiting the geometrical similarities between a comb structure and a spiny dendrite. In the framework of the obtained equations, two scenarios of reaction transport in spiny dendrites are explored, where both a linear reaction in spines and nonlinear Fisher-Kolmogorov-Petrovskii-Piskunov reactions along dendrites are considered. In the framework of fractional subdiffusive comb model, we develop a Hamilton-Jacobi approach to estimate the overall velocity of the reaction front propagation. One of the main effects observed is the failure of the front propagation for both scenarios due to either the reaction inside the spines or the interaction of the reaction with the spines. In the first case the spines are the source of reactions, while in the latter case, the spines are a source of a damping mechanism. © 2013 American Physical Society.