A computational model of the impact of dopamine on the neurons of the crustacean pyloric central pattern generator

Producing neural models that are detailed but still biologically valid is a continuous challenge. Even with a small system such as the pyloric central pattern generator in the crustacean stomatogastric ganlion (STG) we are still not in a position to claim full understanding. The effect of dopamine on the rhythm, frequency and synchrony between neurons of the pyloric central pattern generator (CPG) is well documented in literature. Using parameters from literature and data from voltage sensitive dye experiments, we produced a detailed Hodgkin-Huxley based computational model in Matlab to provide insight into the link between low level cellular and synaptic changes and higher level systems dynamics when dopamine is applied to the STG. This presentation is a walk-through of my work over the last 4 years.