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Level 2 Level 2
Invertebrates Invertebrates

Hear and See Neurons: Exploring Cockroach Nervous Systems

In this experiment, you'll learn how neurons send electrical signals and explore the nervous system of a cockroach to understand how electrical activity drives movement.

What Will You Learn?

• How neurons transmit electrical signals.

• How to measure electrical activity in living tissues.

• The basics of bioamplification and its applications in neuroscience.

Background

The brain is made up of billions of neurons, but exploring human neurons directly is challenging. By studying the nervous system of cockroaches, we can observe similar neural mechanisms in a more accessible way. Neurons send electrical spikes, or action potentials, to communicate, allowing us to move and sense the world around us.

In this experiment, you’ll use the Neuron SpikerBox to detect these spikes in a cockroach leg, gaining hands-on experience with electrophysiology and understanding the basics of neural communication.

Procedure

Anesthetize a cockroach by placing it in ice water, then carefully remove a leg. Use a bioamplifier to measure the electrical spikes generated by the neurons in the leg. Connect electrodes to the SpikerBox and visualize the signals on a computer or smartphone using SpikeRecorder.

Anesthetize

Anesthetize a cockroach by placing it in ice water. Don't worry - insects cannot not drown and can stay in the ice for a while without damage. After a few minutes, the cockroach will stop moving.

After the cockroach becomes non-responsive, you can remove from the ice water.

Remove a Leg

We need to remove a leg to explore the cockroach nervous system. We will do this while proving the least discomfort. Cockroaches (like geckos, and crabs) have a survival mechanism called Autotomy. It allows them to self-amputate a limb when threatened, injured, or under attack. 

You can pull on the limb to remove the leg. Alternatively, you can use a small pair of nail scissors to cut.

Place Pin Electrodes

Using the 2 electrode pins to push through the leg and into the cork behind it. The position doesn't really matter, so long as it goes through the leg completely. This allows the metal pins to get close to any electrically active cells inside the leg!

Connect to Neuron SpikerBox

Once the leg is secured and connected, tun on your Neuron SpikerBox and listen for any sounds through the SpikerBox speaker. You can also connect to your smartphone or computer and observe the signal visually using SpikeRecorder.

Experiment with electrode placement to see what you can capture!