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Effects of Abstraction and Assumptions on Modeling Motoneuron Pool Output

Allen, John Michael
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4171-6251
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495538117787703

Abstract Details

2017, Master of Science (MS), Wright State University, Anatomy.
Computational modeling has long been used in neuroscience as a supplement to more traditional experimental techniques, as it provides some advantages in terms of the level and detail of control available over the system being studied. At the same time, modeling has significant disadvantages by virtue of adding additional uncertainty to results and forcing the definition of potentially unclear physiological mechanisms. Nevertheless, modeling can provide useful insights when carefully defined and constrained. In this thesis, a model of the a-MN pool innervating the cat medial gastrocnemius was constructed. This model was then used to address two major questions, one regarding modeling technique and the other physiological methods of motor control. Regarding modeling technique, the original pool model was developed with distinct properties representing the different physiological types of a-MNs. Properties of these types were spread such that significant overlap was present between them, as shown in experimental results. However, similar models are often developed without inclusion of this feature. By removing the overlap from this model, it was shown that inclusion, or lack thereof, of electrophysiological property overlap has significant impact on model results. Additionally, experimental evidence has shown that a-MNs of lower input resistance innervating muscles of the cat hind limb receive greater synaptic current from volitional input than do those of higher input resistance. To test the significance of this finding, a control scheme was adopted in which input to cells varied as IN, S < IN, FR < IN, FF. The results of this test seem to support assertions made by others, that the size principle, which is often considered in an AHP depth and duration dependent manner, is most applicable when comparing to in vitro electrical stimulation, and that an “onion-skin” pattern of recruitment, in which the fastest-firing units are recruited first, is more applicable when considering volitional input.
Sherif Elbasiouny, Ph.D., PE (Advisor)
Mark Rich, M.D., Ph.D. (Committee Member)
Nasser Kashou, Ph.D. (Committee Member)
111 p.
Neurosciences
Motoneuron; computational neuroscience; motoneuron model; MN; cat gastrocnemius

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Allen, J. M. (2017). Effects of Abstraction and Assumptions on Modeling Motoneuron Pool Output [Master's thesis, Wright State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495538117787703

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Allen, John. Effects of Abstraction and Assumptions on Modeling Motoneuron Pool Output. 2017. Wright State University, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495538117787703.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Allen, John. "Effects of Abstraction and Assumptions on Modeling Motoneuron Pool Output." Master's thesis, Wright State University, 2017. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=wright1495538117787703

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

wright1495538117787703
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© 2017, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.