Dear Colleagues,

we would like to draw your attention to the recently reprogrammed "Virtual Physiology" teaching tools, including two neurophysiology labs: SimNerv and SimNeuron. More information is given on our website www.virtual-physiology.com from where you also can download fully functioning demo versions for Windows. 

SimNerv offers a realistic lab environment on the computer screen to perform classical experiments of compound action potential recordings from the frog sciatic nerve. All parameters of the stimulating and recording devices are freely adjustable. Mathemathical algorithms guarantee for appropriate reactions of the nerves, also considering their physological diversity.

SimNeuron offers easy to overlook laboratories for voltage- and current clamp experiments on the basis of simplified Hodgkin-Huxley type equations, described, for example, in Tchaptchet et al., Brain Res, 1536: 159-167. A neuron editor allows altering the neuron's parameters to examine their impact on the neurons' dynamics.

In addition to these neurophysiology labs you also can download fully functioning demo versions of SimMuscle and SimHeart, featuring classical experiments with nerve-muscle preparations of the frog and with the isolated heart of the rat in the widely used Langendorff set-up for drug perfusion.

To ask for more information, reprints (see short list below), or prices for fully licensed versions for teaching, please, send a reply.

We hope you and your students will enjoy working in the virtual physiology laboratories.

Best regards
Hans Braun and the Virtual Physiology team

References:
see also http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb20/physiologie/ags/braun/publications
or   https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Hans_Braun/contributions?ev=prf_act

SimNeuron related references:

Tchaptchet A, Postnova S, Finke C, Schneider H, Huber MT, Braun HA (2013): Modelin Neuronal Activity in Relation to Experimental Voltage-/Patch-Clamp Recordings. Brain Res 1536: 159-167, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.brainres.2013.06.029
PubMed: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23911648
Science direct:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899313009153
-    or send a mail to braun@uni-marburg.de

Postnova S, Finke C, Huber MT, Voigt K, Braun HA (2011): Conductance-Based Models of Neurons and Synapses for the Evaluation of Brain Functions, Disorders and Drug Effects. In: Biosimulation in Biomedical Research, Health Care and Drug Development. Eds.: Erik Mosekilde, Olga Sosnovtseva, Amin Rostami-Hodjegan. Springer, Wien - New York, pp 93 – 126. Can be downloaded  from our website www.virtual-physiology .com

General reports on the first Virtual Physiology release:

Braun HA (2003) Virtual versus real laboratories in life-science education: Concepts and experiences. In: Jukes N and Chiuia M (Eds) From guinea pig to computer mouse. Interniche, pp 81-87. Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com

Bahar S (2000) The Real and Virtual Laboratory: A Conversation with Dr. Hans Braun. In: The Biological Physicist, The Newsletter of the Division of Biological Physics of the American Physical Society. Vol.1 No.1 June 2001 p 5-7.  Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com

A recent Poster for the 2014 Conference of the German Physiological Society:

Braun HA, Tchaptchet A, dell Oro-Friedl J, Immer D, Schneider H, Braun T, Postnova S, Semyachkina-Glushkovskaya O, Schwabedal J, Wenzel S, Voigt K, Hirsch M: Learning by Doing with the Virtual Physiology Series:Physiological and Pharmacological in silico Experiments. Can be downloaded from our website www.virtual-physiology .com


-- 
Hans A. Braun
Neurodymics Lab, Institute of Physiology, 
Philipps University of Marburg
Deutschhaustr. 2, D-35037 Marburg, Germany
Phone: +49 6421 286-2305, Mobile: +49 173 319 3028, 
email: braun@staff.uni-marburg.de
URL: www.uni-marburg.de/fb20/physiologie/ags/braun
see also: www.virtual-physiology.com/