Neural Circuit Recording from an Intact Cockroach Nervous System

Abstract

The cockroach ventral nerve cord preparation is a tractable system for neuroethology experiments, neural network modeling, and testing the physiological effects of insecticides. This article describes the scope of cockroach sensory modalities that can be used to assay how an insect nervous system responds to environmental perturbations. Emphasis here is on the escape behavior mediated by cerci to giant fiber transmission in Periplaneta americana. This in situ preparation requires only moderate dissecting skill and electrophysiological expertise to generate reproducible recordings of neuronal activity. Peptides or other chemical reagents can then be applied directly to the nervous system in solution with the physiological saline. Insecticides could also be administered prior to dissection and the escape circuit can serve as a proxy for the excitable state of the central nervous system. In this context the assays described herein would also be useful to researchers interested in limb regeneration and the evolution of nervous system development for which P. americana is an established model organism.

The origins and evolution of sleep

“…Moreover, consistent with immobility as a rest-like state, the threshold for a mechanical stimulus to cause a behavioral response was significantly higher when individuals were immobile (Tobler and Neuner-Jehle, 1992). The large size and ease of access to the central nervous system of cockroaches makes electrophysiological analysis of neural networks easily accessible (Titlow et al, 2013). Moreover, whereas the genomes of B. giganteus or L. maderae have not been published, other cockroach models have had their genomes sequenced (Harrison et al, 2018).…”

The genomic and functional landscapes of developmental plasticity in the American cockroach

“…Bacteria of E. coli (PTA-5952), S. aureus (ATCC29213), and C. albicans (ATCC29213) were cultured in LB liquid medium. Overnight bacteria cultures were centrifuged and resuspended in the cockroach saline solution (CSS) 65 containing E. coli (OD 600 = 0.25), S. aureus (OD 600 = 1.0), and C. albicans (OD 600 = 1.0). For AMP induction, adult male American cockroaches emerged within 10 days were injected using sharp micro syringe in posterolateral abdomens with 3 bacterial suspensions of E. coli , S. aureus , C. albicans , or CSS.…”

A low-cost computational approach to analyze spiking activity in cockroach sensory neurons

“…Linder and Palka (4) discuss an inexpensive apparatus for recording action potentials in cockroaches. Titlow et al (5) and Ramos et al (6) developed biological preparations using the common American cockroach, Periplaneta americana, for teaching undergraduate neurophysiology.…”