Journal of Applied Physiology, Vol 46, Issue 6 1191-1195, Copyright © 1979 by American Physiological Society
Transient response of the Geman-Miller respiratory oscillator model
R. M. Engeman and G. D. Swanson
Recent evidence suggests that there is a persistence of elevated
respiratory center activity for many respiratory cycles after the cessation
of a neural stimulus. To explore the theoretical possibility that this
behavior may be a consequence of the neural oscillator that dictates
respiratory rhythm, the transient response of a mathematical model of a
medullary respiratory oscillator recently described by Geman and Miller was
examined using computer simulation. This concept was motivated by the
presence of a persistent transient response behavior inherent in
oscillators from mathematical physics. The results indicate that a
transient persistence effect is evident in the model behavior under some
conditions, and this effect as well as the steady-state amplitude is
markedly sensitive to the shape of the saturation function that
interconnects the neuron populations. Furthermore, this behavior is
initiated by either an abrupt decrease in a tonic input or an abrupt
decrease in the synaptic weights connecting subpopulations of neurons.
