This project will add the important field of cellular neurophysiology to an undergraduate laboratory. Using invertebrate preparations, students will do hands-on experiments and exercises while learning modern equipment and techniques. Four student workstations will be equipped with microscopes, intra- and extra-cellular amplifiers, stimulators, oscilloscopes and computers. The students will study the physiology and morphology of the innervation of the crayfish superficial flexor muscle, the ionic basis of the resting potential, the excitable properties of snail brain cells, crayfish neuromuscular synaptic transmission and the stimulus-response properties of the crayfish stretch receptor. This project will expose all lab students to hands on work which corresponds to text work in the course as well as provide the initial experience and equipment for those students wishing to continue their studies on the neuroscience research team and in the neuroscience concentration.
