ABSTRACT
The primary function of the gastrointestinal system is to supply the body with nutrients and water. The ingested food is moved along the alimentary canal at an appropriate rate for digestion, absorption, storage, and expulsion. The colon absorbs water and electrolytes from the chyme, concentrating and collecting waste products that are expelled from the system at appropriate times. All of these motor functions are performed by contractions of the muscle layers in the gastrointestinal wall. The primary function of the gastrointestinal system is to supply the body with nutrients and water. Gastrointestinal motility is governed by myogenic, neural, and chemical control systems. The applicability of modeling of gastrointestinal electrical control activity (ECA) by coupled nonlinear oscillators has been reconfirmed, and a novel nonlinear oscillator, the mapped clock oscillator, was proposed for modeling the cellular ECA. In the distal stomach, small intestine, and colon, there are intermittent bursts of rapid electrical oscillations, called the electrical response activity or spike bursts.
