Hear and See Neurons: Exploring Cockroach Nervous Systems

In this experiment, you’ll discover how neurons transmit electrical signals and use the cockroach nervous system to see (and hear) those signals in action.

Devices and Accessories6

About the Experiment

What Will You Learn?

How neurons generate and transmit electrical spikes.
How to record neural activity from living tissue.
The basics of bio-amplification and its role in neuroscience.

Background

The human brain holds billions of neurons, but studying them directly is difficult. Cockroaches offer an accessible model: their neurons fire the same electrical spikes—action potentials—that power our own thoughts and movements. With a Neuron SpikerBox we can record those spikes in a single leg and watch the nervous system at work.

Experiment

Recording Spikes From a Cockroach Leg
Materials
- Live cockroach
- Ice water (for anesthesia)
- Neuron SpikerBox + two electrode pins
- Cork or soft board
- Small forceps
- Smartphone or computer with SpikeRecorder
Procedure
1. Anesthetize the cockroach in ice water until it stops moving.
2. Grip the leg firmly at the femur with forceps and pull it off in one quick, fast motion so it separates cleanly at the joint (autotomy). A slow pull can drag internal tissue out with the leg and harm the cockroach. In young cockroaches, a leg removed this way grows back after a few molts.
3. Pin the leg to cork and push the two recording electrodes through the limb into the board.
4. Connect the electrodes to the Neuron SpikerBox, turn it on, and listen for spikes.
5. Open SpikeRecorder on your phone or computer to visualize the neural signals and experiment with electrode placement for the clearest activity.
6. Gently touch one of the leg’s barbs (its small spines) with a toothpick three times and count the spikes each time. Do the spikes look the same from touch to touch? Then press a little harder and count again.

NGSS alignment

Performance expectations

Receptors convert stimuli to electrical signals; the neuron as a specialized cell.

MS-LS1-8 Gather and synthesize information that sensory receptors respond to stimuli by sending messages to the brain for immediate behavior or storage as memories.
HS-LS1-2 Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms.
4-LS1-2 Use a model to describe that animals receive different types of information through their senses, process the information in their brain, and respond to the information in different ways.

Touch a barb and hear the leg's sensory neuron fire, then press harder and compare: an animal taking in information through its senses.

Science and engineering practices

3 Planning and Carrying Out Investigations

Record live spikes from a cockroach leg with the Neuron SpikerBox.
4 Analyzing and Interpreting Data

Count the spikes for repeated touches of one barb, then for a firmer touch, and compare.

Crosscutting concepts

Patterns

Repeatable spike waveforms.
Cause and Effect

Touch causes firing.

Disciplinary core ideas

LS1.D Information Processing

Receptors signal the brain.
LS1.A Structure and Function

Specialized cell structure.

Performance expectations, crosscutting concepts and core ideas from Hands-On Neuroscience Curriculum Overview, Unit 1, module 1.1, whose core lab this is. The practices are the ones this page asks students to do. 4-LS1-2 is a Backyard Brains addition for elementary classes (Greg, 2026-10-06); the book itself is written for older students.