Dresden 2026 – wissenschaftliches Programm
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 37: Tissue Mechanics II
BP 37.11: Vortrag
Freitag, 13. März 2026, 12:15–12:30, BAR/0106
Neuromechanics of peristalsis — •Sifan Yin1, Suraj Shankar2, and Lakshminarayanan Mahadevan3 — 1MPI-PKS, Dresden, Germany — 2University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, US — 3Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, US
The peristalsis of cylindrical-shaped organisms or organs is driven by the propagation of rhythmic waves of contraction and relaxation along the tube wall. These waves are generated by coupled interactions of neural control, mechanotransduction, and active muscular contraction. Here, we propose a minimal neuromechanical model for spontaneously coordinated peristaltic waves by locally coupling the neuro-muscular dynamics to the mechanics of an active elastic tube, such as the Nematostella body, the gastro-intestinal tract, and the ureters. We analyze our model using a combination of analytical and numerical methods to investigate the nucleation, propagation and extinction of pulse, and the transitions between disordered twitching and coordinated traveling waves. Our theory naturally elucidates how the interactions among mechanics and neural activities can give rise to coordinated peristaltic motion without any center pattern generator (CPG). This work can supplement ways to robustly design robotics with neural feedback and help to understand early peristaltic wave generation before CPG formation, especially in early embryonic development.
Keywords: Neuromechanics; proprioception; active solid shell; self-organized peristalsis