Looking for a new techniques that can form a basis for a wide variety of student-driven experiments? Would you like to add a field component to your physiology course? This webinar will introduce the use electroretinogram (ERG) recording to investigate responses of a sample arthropod to light stimuli. ERG's are a reliable, multifaceted neural signal that can be relatively easily measured by students, and provides a rich source for analysis. Students can collect their own specimens from local habitats and add additional observational data about habitat and ecology to the electrophysiology data collected in lab. Knowledge of the organism’s ecology can inform interpretation of the observed visual neurophysiology.
This technique is easily adaptable to any number of student driven investigations, for example:
- Comparing related flying vs. non-flying insects
- Related diurnal vs. nocturnal arthropods.
- Relative response to different wavelengths through the use of calibrated colored LED
- Relative response to strengths to light intensities
- Flicker fusion frequency between arthropods vs niche
A wide range of invertebrates, which often are adapted to specific visual niches, can be tested with only minor changes in the experimental design. Depending on the eye type and organism, the signal may contain transient “on” and “off” spikes at the start and termination of a light stimulus, a sustained receptor potential, and a characteristic stimulus termination. Different signal components correspond to separate events occurring within the retina and downstream neuropil in response to light.
For more information on the Neurobiology Teaching system that will be used in this webinar, click here.
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