Geometrical analysis of bursting pacemaker neurons generated by computational models: comparison to in vitro pre-Bötzinger complex bursting neurons.

Despite an incredible amount of progress toward understanding respiratory rhythm generation through the use of reduced mathematical models, controversy exists concerning the role of various ionic conductances in generating bursting behavior. Moreover, the dynamical behavior of these model neurons has not been examined. Here, we have used two well described pre-Bötzinger complex (pre-BötC) pacemaker neuron models to investigate their dynamical features. Based on our observations, we identify one of the models to better represent the general characteristics of the bursting dynamics and propose additional modifications to better capture the dynamics of our own experimental recordings.