A08 Earthworm Action Potential

This PRO lesson describes the hardware and software setup necessary to record action potentials from a dissected earthworm.

Experimental Objectives

  1. To record the action potential of the earthworm nerve and calculate nerve conduction velocity.
  2. To generate a strength/duration plot for the action potential.

Tasks Performed by the Student

  • After cleaning and anesthetizing the earthworm, student will:
  • Dissect the earthworm and identify the nerve cord.
  • Record velocitystimulate the nerve with increasing distances between the electrodes.
  • Record for strength/durationincrease the amplitude and stimulate until you reach threshold and the action potential fires.

Videos

Biopac Student Lab Student Download

Student Prep & Distance Learning

Click the link(s) below for sample data and/or lesson procedure video(s), BSL PRO Lesson procedures (PDF) for human lessons*, and graph template files (*.gtl) for BSL PRO Lessons. If more than one .gtl is available, download the .gtl with the _suffix to match BSL version and hardware.

Lesson Hardware

This lesson requires a Biopac Student Lab (BSL) System and the following hardware. If your BSL System does not include all hardware items, expand your system by selecting required items below. For more details, review the Lesson: L# BSL Lessons - see the Lab Manual or launch BSL; A# and H# BSL PRO Lessons, click the PDF link above to review full setup, recording, and analysis procedures.

Item Name Cart
NERVE1 Nerve Cond Chamber w/drain+lid Add to Cart
BSLCBL2A Stim - BSLSTM to 2 mm ban Add to Cart
BSLCBL4B Record, 3-lead w/2-mm banana Add to Cart
OUT3 BNC adapter for MP36 built-in stim Add to Cart

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