Ferragamo Michael J
Departments of Biology and Psychological Sciences, Neuroscience Program, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, MN 56082.
J Undergrad Neurosci Educ. 2013 Oct 15;12(1):A61-5. eCollection 2013.
Students in undergraduate laboratory settings learn many of the foundational principles of sensory processing in the comparatively simple, easy to study invertebrate nervous system. In this example preparation, the American cockroach, students record action potentials from the fibers in the ventral nerve cord (VNC) that participate in a well explained escape behavior in response to stimulation of its cerci, a pair of mechanosensitive abdominal appendages. A system that allows good control over the time and amplitude of the air pulse delivered to the cerci is described. This experimental setup enables students to extract and display temporal information from recordings to learn how to interpret those responses in the context of the properties of the stimulus. I offer examples of specific investigations and analyses that work well for this purpose in an undergraduate laboratory.
在本科实验室环境中，学生们在相对简单、易于研究的无脊椎动物神经系统中学习许多感觉处理的基础原理。在这个实验准备中，以美国蟑螂为例，学生们从腹神经索（VNC）中的纤维记录动作电位，这些纤维参与了对其尾须（一对机械敏感的腹部附肢）受到刺激时一种解释清晰的逃避行为。文中描述了一个能够很好地控制传递到尾须的空气脉冲的时间和幅度的系统。这种实验装置使学生能够从记录中提取并显示时间信息，从而学习如何在刺激特性的背景下解释这些反应。我提供了一些在本科实验室中适用于此目的的具体研究和分析示例。
