Stimulate, record, and compare action potentials from the cockroach ventral nerve cord.

The aim of this experiment is to for students to stimulate a cockroach ventral nerve cord to compare spontaneous activity and evoked responses. Students will dissect a common cockroach (Periplaneta spp.) in order to stimulate and record from the abdominal ganglia connected to the ventral nerve cord. In this experiment, students will stimulate the ganglia with gentle stimuli, such as tapping and light touching, to record action potentials. If the students have a large cockroach, they will be able to calculate the velocity of the action potential as it travels down the nerve cord. This experiment is suitable for students with basic knowledge of the PowerLab Data Acquisition System.