This program is designed to simulate experiments which may be performed on an isolated preparation of rat colon to study intestinal motility. Peristalsis in the rat colon differs in detail, but not in principle, from that in human colon, or indeed from small intestinal peristalsis.

The Tutorial section program explains, using animations and high quality graphics the mechanism of peristalsis and the excitatory and inhibitory nervous pathways which influence it.

Methods and Materials describes with the aid of diagrams the apparatus, the method of administering control and test agents and how the peristaltic reflex test is performed. The effects of these procedures on longitudinal muscle tension (g) and fluid propulsion from a drop counter (number of drops over time) are also explained.

Experiments allows the user to see the effects of physiological stimuli (activation of the peristaltic reflex by distension of the colon with saline) and of the following automotive pharmacological agents either administered alone or in combination:

• saline (control)
• atropine
• neostigmine
• acetylcholine
• carbachol
• epinephrine

Self-assessment: each experiment is accompanied by a series of true/false questions designed to assess students interpretation of the displayed results and their understanding of the underlying pharmacological mechanisms.

System Requirements: Windows: Intel Pentium II 450MHz or faster processor (or equivalent), 128MB of RAM; Microsoft Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows Server 2003 Macintosh: PowerPC G3 500MHz or faster processor, 128MB of RAM; Mac OS X v.10.1.x, 10.2.x, 10.3.x, or 10.4.x

Recommended browser software: Windows: Internet Explorer; Macintosh: Safari or Firefox; Both: Adobe Flash Player plug-in, version 8 or higher.

Screenshots