Understanding the brain and how it produces behavior is one of the great challenges facing 21st century science. The most direct way of studying the action of the nervous system is by using electrophysiological methods. The difficulty here lies in the complexity and vast numbers of neurons as well as the minute scale of nervous systems construction. Problems of size and complexity have led to the study of simpler animals that have complex behavior but many fewer neurons. Thus, pioneering achievements using invertebrates elucidated details of central neural circuits in annelids, molluscs, insects, and crustaceans, revealing many key mechanisms of neuronal function.
Invertebrate nervous systems offer several advantages over their vertebrate counterparts for trying to investigate and understand a range of different neurobiological phenomena. These advantages include individually identifiable neurons in simple circuits. Their relatively large neuronal soma facilitates intracellular electrophysiology, dynamic clamp, cell isolation and culture, DNA/RNA sequencing of individual neurons, and much more. This can then be combined with optogenetics and pharmacology, thus manipulating ions, neurotransmitters, channels, and membrane voltage. It is further possible to manipulate command neurons that control central pattern generators, as well as model single neurons or circuits. Invertebrates generally have a lower metabolic demand than vertebrates, which means that semi-intact preparations, or even fully-intact behaving preparations with live intracellular recordings, can be durable and often easier than in vertebrates. 97% of animals are invertebrates, and comparing the nervous systems of phylogenetically disparate clades can be informative in elucidating conserved neurobiological principles, as well as the evolution of nervous systems. Beside basic neurophysiological properties of single neurons and circuits, higher cognitive functions like learning and memory, sleep, and social interactions are also accessible using invertebrate preparations.
With this research topic we aim to promote and highlight the usefulness of invertebrate preparations for neuroscience research. We invite contributions from any field in invertebrate electrophysiology: original research, methods, protocols, or reviews (both historical and current).
Understanding the brain and how it produces behavior is one of the great challenges facing 21st century science. The most direct way of studying the action of the nervous system is by using electrophysiological methods. The difficulty here lies in the complexity and vast numbers of neurons as well as the minute scale of nervous systems construction. Problems of size and complexity have led to the study of simpler animals that have complex behavior but many fewer neurons. Thus, pioneering achievements using invertebrates elucidated details of central neural circuits in annelids, molluscs, insects, and crustaceans, revealing many key mechanisms of neuronal function.
Invertebrate nervous systems offer several advantages over their vertebrate counterparts for trying to investigate and understand a range of different neurobiological phenomena. These advantages include individually identifiable neurons in simple circuits. Their relatively large neuronal soma facilitates intracellular electrophysiology, dynamic clamp, cell isolation and culture, DNA/RNA sequencing of individual neurons, and much more. This can then be combined with optogenetics and pharmacology, thus manipulating ions, neurotransmitters, channels, and membrane voltage. It is further possible to manipulate command neurons that control central pattern generators, as well as model single neurons or circuits. Invertebrates generally have a lower metabolic demand than vertebrates, which means that semi-intact preparations, or even fully-intact behaving preparations with live intracellular recordings, can be durable and often easier than in vertebrates. 97% of animals are invertebrates, and comparing the nervous systems of phylogenetically disparate clades can be informative in elucidating conserved neurobiological principles, as well as the evolution of nervous systems. Beside basic neurophysiological properties of single neurons and circuits, higher cognitive functions like learning and memory, sleep, and social interactions are also accessible using invertebrate preparations.
With this research topic we aim to promote and highlight the usefulness of invertebrate preparations for neuroscience research. We invite contributions from any field in invertebrate electrophysiology: original research, methods, protocols, or reviews (both historical and current).