Download (friendship) of neurons

Lab One:
A beginner’s guide to the spikerbox
Brain Cells need to communicate with
each other to control the body
A brain with only one neuron is not a brain
A brain is a network (friendship) of neurons
How do neurons talk?
Method 1: Chemical communication
e.g. Bacteria
Con: slow, limited by diffusion
How do neurons talk?
Method 2: Chemical communication through synapse
e.g. stretching the neuron to cover more space
Con: still slow, signal must travel long way through cell
How do neurons talk?
Method 3: Electrical and chemical combination
Electricity carries signal quickly down long axon to synapse,
chemical transmission at synapse to the next neuron
Electrical Neural Communication:
The Action Potential
Action potentials (“spikes”) are generated by Na infusion
depolarizing the cell membrane and K expulsion repolarizing it.
Spike “moves” as depolarization propagates down axon
Anatomy of the Neuron
Wikipedia.org
Model of the nervous system:
Discoid cocroach (Blaberus discoidalis)
Neuroanatomy of Cockroach
Neuroanatomy of Cockroach Leg
Procedures: Put the cockroach in a
jar of ice water
Procedures: Cut off one of roach’s
legs near the body
(Put petroleum jelly on exposed wound
on body and leg, return cockroach to
house, leg will grow back if cockroach
not full grown adult)
Procedures: Place leg on cork of
SpiderBox, with a bit of leg
overhang
Procedures: Put one electrode in
the femur and the other in the
coxa
Procedures: Observe the spike
trains, demonstrating neuron
communication
Classify spikes by amplitude: binning
Entering Your Data
Condition
No Stimulation
Toothpick
Stimulation
Blowing
Through Straw
Method Notes
Timing Notes