Inhibitory Interneuron modulation in Cephalopod Nociception
By: Christopher Peng Seng
Department: Biology and Limnology
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Robyn Crook
When comparing humans and cephalopods, long-lasting pain is generally not thought of to be a common trait between the two. Our project focuses on the role of inhibitory interneurons as modulators of long-term nociceptive plasticity in cephalopods. Cephalopods express nociceptive sensitization after tissue injury that is ostensibly similar to that found in mammals including humans (where it results in long-lasting pain), but whether the same mechanisms are responsible for upregulation of nociceptive signal after injury in cephalopods remains unknown. In this project, we are investigating how inhibitory tone changes after injury in hummingbird bobtail squid. Currently, we are utilizing electrophysiological recordings from two peripheral nerves in the squid and recording the response to two different von Frey filaments that evoke action potentials in both nerves through contact. We will compare nerve excitability among control and injured animals, and eventually, we will introduce GABA or bicuculline washes, in order to see how inhibitory neurotransmission can affect nociceptive signal from the peripheral nerves to the brain.