A NestML model that implements a 5HT modulated motor neuron. The base for this model was an existing Neuron simulator model by Moraud EM, Capogrosso M. The modulation by 5HT is made by a variation in the conductivity of K-Ca channels according to Booth et al., 1997.

The model can be used as a custom Nest model.

nest.Install("research_team_models")
neuron = nest.Create(
    'hh_moto_5ht', params={
        "g_K_Ca_5ht": 0.6,
        "C_m": 200.0,
        "t_ref": 0.0,
    }
)

The parameter that represents 5HT modulation is g_K_Ca_5ht. When it equals 1.0, no modulation happens. An application of 5HT corresponds to its decrease. The default value is 0.6. This value was used in the Neuron simulator model. The range of this parameter is (0, 1] but you are free to play with any value.

The model is written in NestML. IMPORTANT! For the time of writing this README, NestML worked for me only with Python2.7. Keep it in mind when building this model.

Please use build.sh to prepare the model for NEST. It requires that you have a proper installation of NestML and there is an environment var NESTML_INSTALL_DIR that leads to it. In case of a successful building the build dir should contain a NEST model and this model should be accessible in NEST under the namespace research_team_models. Please see Usage above.

The below instructions are given in case you want to customize the build process. The location for these instructions is the project's root location.

To build the model for NEST:

java -jar <path to nestml 'target' dir>nestml.jar research_team_models --target build

To install the built to NEST:

cd build
cmake -Dwith-nest=$NEST_INSTALL_DIR/bin/nest-config .
make all
make install

More details in the NestML repo

We use an existing Neuron implementation of the same model for verification. For now it has been tested that the model behaves the same under a DC current in 700pA.

Neuron simulation result	NEST simulation result