- Spontaneous action potentials occur in the distal portion
of the stomach - slow waves ~3/min - also called basic electrical rhythm.
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- This rhythm is set by a group of cells called pacemaker
cells.The wave of contraction travels as a ring around the stomach towards
the pylorus and increase in intensity in the presence of food
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- As the perstaltic wave reaches the pylorus, it digs
into the contents of the antrum due to the fact that the pylorus opening
is small as well as it contracts on the arrival of the peristaltic wave.
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- The chyme is thus squirted back into the stomach, an
action called retropulsion
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