This is the readme for the model associated with the paper:

Komendantov AO, Komendantova OG, Johnson SW, Canavier CC (2004) A
modeling study suggests complementary roles for GABAA and NMDA
receptors and the SK channel in regulating the firing pattern in
midbrain dopamine neurons. J Neurophysiol 91:346-57

Midbrain dopaminergic (DA) neurons in vivo exhibit two major firing
patterns: single-spike firing and burst firing. The firing pattern
expressed is dependent on both the intrinsic properties of the neurons
and their excitatory and inhibitory synaptic inputs. Experimental data
suggest that the activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and GABAA
receptors is a crucial contributor to the initiation and suppression
of burst firing, respectively, and that blocking Ca(2+)-activated
potassium SK channels can facilitate burst firing. A
multi-compartmental model of a DA neuron with a branching structure
was developed and calibrated based on in vitro experimental data to
explore the effects of different levels of activation of NMDA and
GABAA receptors as well as the modulation of the SK current on the
firing activity. The simulated tonic activation of GABAA receptors was
calibrated by taking into account the difference in the electrotonic
properties in vivo versus in vitro. Although NMDA-evoked currents are
required for burst generation in the model, currents evoked by
GABAA-receptor activation can also regulate the firing pattern. For
example, the model predicts that increasing the level of NMDA receptor
activation can produce excessive depolarization that prevents burst
firing, but a concurrent increase in the activation of GABAA receptors
can restore burst firing. Another prediction of the model is that
blocking the SK channel current in vivo will facilitate bursting, but
not as robustly as blocking the GABAA receptors.

These model files were supplied by Anna Kuznetsova

Usage:
Auto-launch from ModelDB to for a graphical interface to the model.

If you have installed NEURON with mpi on x86_64 systems you can double
check that
/usr/local/neuron/x86_64/bin is in your path
To compile the code (under unix) type:

nrnivmodl

In order to run the code:
if you want a graphical user interface set back = 0 in damodel.hoc
then type:

x86_64/special damodel.hoc -

and hit the init and run button

to run simulations in the background set back = 1
mpirun -nolocal x86_64/special damodel.hoc>& myfile.dat&
(This prints soma and dendrite voltages and some currents to myfile.dat)

Run in the background generates state.new file. To restart from these last data
copy state.new over state.old and set restart = 1 in damodel.hoc. (This works
both for GUI and background).