Genesis and role of coordinated firing in a feedforward network: A model study of the enteric nervous system

Abstract

The enteric nervous system can generate complex motor patterns independently of the central nervous system. The ascending enteric reflex pathway consists of sensory neurons, long chains of a single class of orally directed interneuron and excitatory motor neurons. Because of the importance of this pathway in peristalsis, it was modelled from the firing of sensory neurons through to muscle membrane activation. The model was anatomically realistic in the number of neurons simulated and in the patterns of connections between neurons. The model was also realistic in the simulation of ligand-gated currents in neuron and muscle membrane, current flow in the muscle syncytium and voltage-dependent c..