A Relaxation Oscillator Description of the Burst-Generating Mechanism in the Cardiac Ganglion of the Lobster, Homarus americanus

Properties of the neural mechanism responsible for generating the periodic burst of spike potentials in the nine ganglion neurons were investigated by applying brief, single shocks to the four small cells with extracellular electrodes placed near the trigger zones of the small cells. The shock elicited a burst if presented during the latter portion of the silent period, terminated a burst during the latter portion of the burst period, and was followed by a newly initiated burst during the early portion of the burst period. The resultant changes in burst and silent period durations were quantitatively described by a second-order non-linear differential equation similar to the van der Pol equation for a relaxation oscillator. The equation also qualitatively described changes in firing threshold of the small cells during the burst cycle. The first derivative of the solution to the equation is similar to slow transmembrane potentials in neurons that are involved in generation of burst activity in other crustacean cardiac ganglia.