Discharge Patterns of Swimmeret Motoneurones in the Lobster, Stimulated With a Digital Computer

Abstract

The response of a computer-simulated neurone to a sinusoidal excitatory input was studied and compared to the rhythmic discharge patterns of swimmeret motoneurones in the lobster. All of the output parameters of the simulated neurone closely resemble those of the swimmeret motoneurones, suggesting that the excitatory input to the swimmeret motoneurones also varies with time in an approximately sinusoidal fashion. The full range of behaviour exhibited by swimmeret motoneurones was obtained from the simulated neurone by varying the time course of the refractory recovery following each spike, the effective threshold for spike generation, and the rate of accumulation of refractoriness during each burst.