Abstract
The cockroach ventral nerve cord preparation is a tractable system for neuroethology experiments, neural network modeling, and testing the physiological effects of insecticides. This article describes the scope of cockroach sensory modalities that can be used to assay how an insect nervous system responds to environmental perturbations. Emphasis here is on the escape behavior mediated by cerci to giant fiber transmission in Periplaneta americana. This in situ preparation requires only moderate dissecting skill and electrophysiological expertise to generate reproducible recordings of neuronal activity. Peptides or other chemical reagents can then be applied directly to the nervous system in solution with the physiological saline. Insecticides could also be administered prior to dissection and the escape circuit can serve as a proxy for the excitable state of the central nervous system. In this context the assays described herein would also be useful to researchers interested in limb regeneration and the evolution of nervous system development for which P. americana is an established model organism.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
11-4-2013
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.3791/50584
Repository Citation
Titlow, Josh; Majeed, Zana R.; Hartman, H. Bernard; Burns, Ellen; and Cooper, Robin L., "Neural Circuit Recording from an Intact Cockroach Nervous System" (2013). Biology Faculty Publications. 77.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/biology_facpub/77
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Journal of Visualized Experiments, v. 81, e50584, p. 1-10.
Copyright © 2013 Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License.