Figure 4. The frequency of colonic migrating motor complexes (CMMCs) is significantly increased by the presence of faecal contents .

A, schematic diagram showing an isolated whole mouse colon containing multiple faecal pellets. B and C show spatio‐temporal maps from the whole colon of different mice in vivo. CMMCs occur frequently and propagate over significant lengths of colon. D and E, when the colon has expelled all contents, the same segments of colon shown in B and C, respectively, rarely generate CMMCs. When CMMCs do occur, their velocity of propagation is significantly slower. This shows that the presence of multiple pellets in the lumen enhances the velocity and frequency of CMMCs. Figure reproduced from Barnes et al. (2014).