A spinal circuitry simulator as a teaching tool for neuromuscular physiology.

Many concepts in neuromuscular physiology can be difficult for instructors to teach and for students to understand. The behaviors of various components in neuromuscular systems do not always interact in obvious ways, and the function of hundreds of components can be very different from the function of just one or two "representatives." In this paper, a simulator is presented that can model both small and large spinal circuitry systems thus allowing students to explore the dynamic functional implications of the static circuitry diagrams that are common in many neuroscience textbooks. The simulator brings to life many concepts in neuromuscular physiology and permits students to explore such concepts without extensive supervision. The benefits and drawbacks of using this kind of simulator in the classroom are discussed, based on initial field tests with undergraduate and graduate students as well as input from the literature. It was found that such a simulation can be very useful as a teaching tool if it is used properly with the right audience.