MechanismType

action · count · has_net_event · internal_type · is_artificial · is_netcon_target · make · menu · pp_begin · pp_next · remove · select · selected

MechanismType

class MechanismType

Syntax:

mt = h.MechanismType(0)

mt = h.MechanismType(1)

Description:

Provides a way of iterating over all membrane mechanisms or point processes and allows selection via a menu or under hoc control.

The 0 argument creates a list of all available distributed membrane mechanisms (as opposed to PointProcesses). eg "hh", "pas", "extracellular". that can be inserted into a section.

The 1 argument creates a list of all available Point Processes. eg. IClamp, AlphaSynapse, VClamp.

Mechanism order is the same as the argument order that created the "special" during nrnivmodl or mknrndll. Therefore when a saved session depends on information in a MechanismType it is dependent on a particular special or dll.

Example:

from neuron import h
# Print the names of all density mechanisms
mt = h.MechanismType(0)
mname  = h.ref('')
for i in range(mt.count()):
    mt.select(i)
    mt.selected(mname)
    print(mname[0])

See also

MechanismStandard

---

MechanismType.select()

Syntax:

mt.select("name")

mt.select(i)

Description:

selects either the named mechanism or the i'th mechanism in the list.

---

MechanismType.selected()

Syntax:

i = mt.selected([strdef])

Description:

returns the index of the current selection. If present, strdef is assigned to the name of the current selection.

Note

strdef must be a NEURON string reference (e.g. one created via strdef = h.ref('')); to access its contents use strdef[0]; see the example for the constructor above. In particular stdef cannot be a Python string.

---

MechanismType.remove()

Syntax:

mt.remove()

Description:

For distributed mechanisms invoked with the "insert" statement. Deletes selected mechanism from currently accessed section. A nop if the mechanism is not in the section.

---

MechanismType.make()

Syntax:

mt.make()

mt.make(objectvar)

Description:

mt.make()

For distributed mechanisms. Inserts selected mechanism into currently accessed section.

mt.make(objectvar)

For point processes. The arg becomes a reference to a new point process of type given by the selection. Note that the newly created point process is not located in any section. Note that if objectvar was the only reference to another object then that object is destroyed.

---

MechanismType.count()

Syntax:

i = mt.count()

Description:

The number of different mechanisms in the list.

---

MechanismType.menu()

Syntax:

mt.menu()

Description:

Inserts a special menu into the currently open xpanel. The menu label always reflects the current selection. Submenu items are indexed according to position with the first item being item 0. When the mouse button is released on a submenu item that item becomes the selection and the action (if any) is executed.

---

MechanismType.action()

Syntax:

mt.action("command")

Description:

The action to be executed when a submenu item is selected.

Note

Currently only allows invoking HOC commands; passing in a Python function is not supported as of NEURON 7.4.

---

MechanismType.is_netcon_target()

Syntax:

boolean =  mt.is_netcon_target(i)

Description:

The i'th point process has a NET_RECEIVE block and can therefore be a target for a NetCon object.

---

MechanismType.has_net_event()

Syntax:

boolean = mt.has_net_event(i)

Description:

The i'th point process has a net_event call in its NET_RECEIVE block and can therefore be a source for a NetCon object. This means it is NetCon stimulator or that the point process can be used as an artificial neural network cell.

---

MechanismType.is_artificial()

Syntax:

boolean = mt.is_artificial(i)

Description:

The i'th point process is an ARTIFICIAL_CELL and can therefore be a source for a NetCon object. This means it is NetCon stimulator or that the point process can be used as an artificial neural network cell.

This seems to have, but does not, equivalent functionality to has_net_event() and was introduced because ARTIFICIAL_CELL objects are no longer located in sections. Some ARTIFICIAL_CELLs such as the PatternStim do not make use of net_event in their implementation, and some PointProcesses do use net_event and must be located in sections for their proper function, e.g. reciprocal synapses.

---

MechanismType.pp_begin()

Syntax:

obj = mt.pp_begin()

Description:

Initializes an iterator used to iterate over point processes of a particular type in the currently accessed section. Returns the first point process in the currently accessed section having the type specified by the MechanismType.select() statement. This only works if the the MechanismType was instantiated with the (1) argument. If there is no such point process in the section the method returns NULLobject. Note that, prior to version 6.2, although the x=1 node is normally considered to be part of the section, the parent node was not looked at (normally x = 0) unless the section was the root of the tree. As of version 6.2, both the 0 and 1 locations are looked at and if the point process used the section to locate it, then it is returned. If the point process used the child or parent section to locate it, it is not returned.

Example:

from neuron import h

cable = h.Section(name='cable')
cable.nseg = 5
stim = [h.IClamp(i/2., sec=cable) for i in range(3)]

mt = h.MechanismType(1)
mt.select("IClamp")
pp = mt.pp_begin()
while h.object_id(pp) != 0:
    x = pp.get_loc()
    print("%s located at %s(%g)" % (pp, h.secname(), x))
    h.pop_section() # restores section selection from before the get_loc
    pp = mt.pp_next()

---

MechanismType.pp_next()

Syntax:

obj = mt.pp_next()

Description:

Returns the next point process of the type and in the section that were specified in the earlier call to MechanismType.pp_begin() . When there are no more point processes, the return value is NULLobject.

---

MechanismType.internal_type()

Syntax:

internal_type = mt.internal_type()

Description:

Return the internal type index of the selected mechanism.