Putting our Brains Together :)

For A&P my classmate Ashley and I, along with the rest of the class dissected a sheep's brain. We started off by cutting off all the bone and skin attached to the brain. The smell was horrible I might add, and if it wasn't for the smell I might have not been so nauseated :) Anyways, my partner, Ashley, thankfully that day couldn't really smell due to sinus problems so she handled most of it. She cut the brain sagittally and when we opened it my curiosity only grew from then on. We nipped away at little parts trying to figure out which part of the brain was which using a website that Mr. Ludwig showed us. You can find it at http://www.gwc.maricopa.edu/class/bio201/brain/brshpx.htm

The most noticeable part of our brain that we could make out was the cerebellum. You can tell by one of the pictures that Ashley is holding up in one of the photos above. We also could pin point the medulla, spinal cord, pons, Occipital, parietal and frontal lobe. The rest we figured out from the website :)

All and all seeing a brain for myself, in a such a upfront way showed me a lot. I think its amazing how one little organ like that controls your whole entire body. Crazy how whenever that sheep was alive his/ her body sent electrical waves or whatever it is through it. To think I had the brain that contained an animals whole way of living right in my palm was kind of cool. Seeing all the different parts of the brain was really cool and I'm glad we did this lab. I just hope our next one doesn't quite as much smell as bad :)

Leech Neurophysiology Lab

Purpose/ Hypothesis: 

For this lab, my hypothesis is that each cell will all respond differently. Each will show that each cells is responsible for collecting touch information from the skin of the leech to its brain.

Materials: 

Feather, Probe, Forceps, Scissors, Pins, Scalpel, Dissection Tray, Leech Tank, 20% Ethanol, Leech Tongs, Dissection Microscope, Micromanipular, Oscilloscope, Leech

Procedure: 

1. Anesthetize and dissect the leech
2. Remove leech innards and observe ganglion
3. Cut out the ganglion window
4. Isolate one ganglion
5. Cut the ganglion sinus
6. Probe and identify ganglion sensory cells

Results: 

After repeating the experiment a couple of times it was shown that the cells did in fact respond differently. There were cell types: N, T, P, R and X. Each cell either reacted differently to the feather, probe and forceps or had no stimuli at all. The results for the Dyed Cell pointed out which cell type they were.

Conclusion:

The cells all responded differently. After testing all the possible results they each showed that cells are indeed responsible for collecting touch information from the skin of the leech to its brain. By each reacting to the different objects with alternative stimuli they show that not every cells corresponds and does what one another does. This only proves the previous hypothesis stated from the beginning.