I'm due to begin work on a project soon meant to build upon a pre-existing biological model. I'm an undergrad that's most experienced with Python, but I'll be working with MATLAB. The model that already exists is a system of first order differential equations, and I've had a play around using ode45 to get used to it. I'm expecting to explore introducing spatial interactions. I've seen things like the Fisher-Kolmogorov equation, and it seems I could end up working with a second order spatial dependence term.
But can I use ode45 to solve that type of thing? A lot of what I'm reading says you'd want to convert it to multiple first order equations, but I'm not sure if that's really a good way to go. I guess I'm looking for MATLAB specific advice on where to begin building my familiarity with the tools available. Is there another ode function that suits this better?