Peristalsis by pulses of activity

Peristalsis by actively generated waves of muscle contraction is one of the most fundamental ways of producing motion in living systems. We show that peristalsis can be modeled by a train of rectangular-shaped solitary waves of localized activity propagating through otherwise passive matter. Our analysis is based on the Fermi-Pasta-Ulam (FPU) type discrete model accounting for active stresses and we reveal the existence in this problem of a critical regime which we argue to be physiologically advantageous.

Automated summary

The study examines peristalsis as one of the fundamental ways of producing motion in living systems through actively generated waves of muscle contraction. A model using a train of rectangular-shaped solitary waves of localized activity propagating through otherwise passive matter is proposed. The analysis reveals the existence of a critical regime in this problem, which is argued to be physiologically advantageous.