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Invertebrate
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Grade 6+
Experiment: Neural Adaptation
In this experiment, you’ll investigate how sensory neurons adapt to constant stimuli—a process called neural adaptation. Using a cockroach leg, you’ll observe how neurons respond to an initial touch and then tune out unchanging pressure over time. This phenomenon helps us understand how the nervous system filters out unnecessary information.
About experiment
What Will You Learn?
- What neural adaptation is and how it allows sensory neurons to tune out constant stimuli.
- How to measure the adaptation rate of sensory neurons in a cockroach leg.
- The role sensory neurons play in peripheral and central nervous systems during learning and adaptation.
- Why constant pressure must be applied carefully to ensure accurate results.
Experiment Overview
Prepare a cockroach leg on cork, place the electrodes close together, and visualise the activity in SpikeRecorder. After locating a responsive barb, apply steady pressure with a weighted toothpick or bent fishing line and observe how firing diminishes as the neuron adapts.
Experiment
Constant-Pressure Neural Adaptation Experiment
Start by preparing the cockroach leg on a piece of cork, as described in earlier experiments. Place the electrodes close together to record spikes from individual neurons, then power on your SpikerBox and open SpikeRecorder to visualise activity. Identify a barb that produces large, clear spikes when touched.
Once you’ve located a responsive barb, apply constant pressure to it. Use either a toothpick mounted in a manipulator (or weighted with stacked books) or a piece of bent fishing line taped to a pen to keep the force steady. Press the tool against the barb and hold it in place.
You will hear a burst of spikes as the neuron fires rapidly; over time the firing rate falls and may stop altogether—evidence of adaptation. Record the activity in SpikeRecorder and zoom out to see the full timeline.
Results & Analysis
After the spikes diminish, use SpikeRecorder to quantify adaptation. Create 250-ms windows and count the spikes in each window over time; the firing rate will drop until it stabilises. Measure how long it takes to fall from the peak rate to half its initial value, then repeat for other neurons to compare adaptation rates.
When the neuron has adapted, increase the pressure slightly—do spikes return? What happens when you reduce the pressure? Test different barbs or legs to explore variation in adaptation.
What do you need?
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