Lay summary
Gastric motility is coordinated by underlying bio-electrical events known as slow waves. Slow wave dysrhythmias have been associated with major functional motility disorders such as gastroparesis, chronic unexplained nausea and vomiting, and functional dyspepsia. These disorders are highly prevalent in today’s society, and impart a significant socio-economic global health burden, but remains poorly understood with few therapies. To advance diagnostic tests for gastric dysrhythmias, an improved understanding of slow wave patho-electrophysiology is required before they can be implemented in clinical practice. In this proposal we will develop new experimental techniques to record and the map the activation to recovery phase of the slow wave activity. This will help us investigate the genesis of gastric dysrhythmias, and examine the conditions which aid in its maintenance and termination. The new findings from this proposal can potentially inform novel diagnostics and therapeutics to guide management strategies to provide better patient care.