Date of Award

5-2022

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

College/School

College of Science and Mathematics

Department/Program

Applied Mathematics and Statistics

Thesis Sponsor/Dissertation Chair/Project Chair

Eric Forgoston

Committee Member

Vladislav Snitsarev

Committee Member

Elena Petroff

Abstract

We consider an electrical parallel conductance membrane model which is an extension of the classical Hodgkin-Huxley neuronal model of excitability. This extended model describes the formation of the resting membrane potential and conductance, and the formation of action potentials in nodose A-type excitable cells. The model consists of a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations which are numerically solved using the Python programming language. The results show that the model is capable of accurately describing experimental results including resting membrane potential and conductance, duration and form of action potentials, amplitude of the spike, oscillations, and activitydependent changes in [Ca2+] in the pericellular space and cytoplasm. This enables one to model the excitability of A-type nodose sensory neurons as well as to study the effects of ion channel modulators and their combinations under different environmental conditions such as variable extracellular Na+, K+, and Ca2+ concentrations and pericellular volume. The effects of tetrodotoxin which is found in pufferfish, 4-Aminopyridine chemical compound, and iberiotoxin which is found in the Indian Red Scorpion, were studied.

File Format

PDF

Download

Share

COinS