Spontaneous enteric nervous system activity generates contractile patterns prior to maturation of gastrointestinal motility

Neurogastroenterology and motility
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Lori B Dershowitz, Hassler Bueno Garcia, Andrew S Perley, Todd P Coleman, Julia A Kaltschmidt
BACKGROUND: Spontaneous neuronal network activity is essential to the functional maturation of central and peripheral circuits, yet whether this is a feature of enteric nervous system development has yet to be established. Although enteric neurons are known exhibit electrophysiological properties early in embryonic development, no connection has been drawn between this neuronal activity and the development of gastrointestinal (GI) motility patterns.