[Note - I have only seen a demo, and only looked at the Windows version]

This program lets you do classical neurophysiology experiments on a hodgkin/huxley axon. You can either current or voltage clamp it, add TTX, TEA, or scorpion toxin, set the internal and external Na and K concentrations, the temperature, the membrane conductances and capacitance, and various parameters of the clamping and stimulating. All of these are set in one main window, which is laid out to show a stimulating and recording electrode penetrating a cell, with all the parameters positioned in appropriate places (the internal ion concentrations inside the cell, external ion concentrations outside the cell, clamp parameters near the stimulating electrode, etc.). When you run an experiment, the program shows you the results as a series of graphs of voltage across the membrane, Na and K currents and conductances, and the stimulus current. You can also plot the current passed through one or more single Na or K channels simulating a patch clamp experiment. There is also another display that shows schematics of one Na and one K channel with gates that open and close as the experiment runs, and arrows indicating current flow. You can use the mouse to measure values off of the graphs, and you can save these measurements in a notes window, where you can also type in your own comments. There is extensive on-line help in the standard Windows format (at least in the Windows version). More advanced features include an annotation feature which lets an instructor add extra labels into the main window, and a tutorial feature which lets you save a series of experiments into a file which can then be played back.

This is one of the nicest programs of this type that I've seen. The main window is very cleanly laid out, making it easy to see how the different pieces relate to each other. You can change parameters right on this main screen, so there is no need for beginning students to use the menus or dialog boxes at all. Thus students should be able to quickly start using the program and getting results, and should be able to repeat most of the classical experiments that established how axons function. The on-line help is quite extensive and useful. All in all, this program should work well for demonstrating the principles of Hodgkin/Huxley axons in beginning to intermediate level neurobiology classes.

Note that the advertisement claims there are other modules in Neurosim in addition to the Hodgkin-Huxley module, dealing with neural networks and patch clamping (for Windows) and those plus another 7 modules for the DOS version (looking at PSPs, brusting neurons, resting membrane potentials, cable conduction, etc.). I haven't seen these and so can't comment, but the literature from the company claims that they all share a similar user interface.

Computer: DOS, Windows

Source: BioSoft

Cost: High

Last update 22nd of January 1996