"To circumvent the many problems in teaching neurophysiology as a “wet lab,” we developed SWIMMY, a virtual fish that swims by moving its virtual tail by means of a virtual neural circuit. ... Using SWIMMY, students (1) review the basics of neurophysiology, (2) identify the neurons in the circuit, (3) ascertain the neurons’ synaptic interconnections, (4) discover which cells generate the motor pattern of swimming, (5) discover how the rhythm is generated, and finally (6) use an animation that corresponds to the activity of the motoneurons to discover the behavioral effects produced by various lesions and explain them in terms of their neural underpinnings. ..."
Model Type: Realistic Network
Region(s) or Organism(s): Unknown
Model Concept(s): Oscillations; Tutorial/Teaching
Simulation Environment: NEURON (web link to model)
References:
Grisham W, Schottler NA, Krasne FB. (2008). SWIMMY: Free Software for Teaching Neurophysiology of Neuronal Circuits. Journal of undergraduate neuroscience education : JUNE : a publication of FUN, Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience. 7 [PubMed]