Figure 10 - Central control of peristalsis in the smooth muscle portion of the esophagus.

Upon swallowing (stimulus), the inhibitory pathway neurons in the caudal DMN (cDMN) are activated first, which causes simultaneous inhibition of all parts of the esophagus. This inhibition lasts longer in the lower than in the upper parts. As the inhibition ends, sequential activation of excitatory (including cholinergic) neurons in the rostral DMN (rDMN) elicits a contraction wave that is peristaltic in nature.