Demonstration of Nerve Muscle Preparation in Rats: For Nerve-Muscle Physiology Teaching

ABSTRACT

Purpose of the study Physiology practical complement learning of concepts taught in didactic theorylectures. Therefore, they are instrumental to comprehensive learning. Learning of physiology of excitabletissues is supplemented by observing the same phenomena in action in the laboratory. We developed anin-situ rat nerve-muscle model to demonstrate nerve-muscle physiology phenomenon to undergraduate andpostgraduate students. This mimics the physiological conditions unlike the Rana tigrina experiments whichwere done earlier. Further, frequent unavailability of frogs envisaged us to find an alternative for demonstrationof these concepts.Materials and methods: We developed and standardized an in-situ rat soleus muscle-sciatic nerve modelto demonstrate the phenomenon of nerve-muscle properties like simple muscle twitch, effect of strength ofstimulus, effect of two successive stimuli and tetanus to the undergraduate and postgraduate students atour institute.Results: Simple muscle twitch was recorded and effect of increasing strength of stimuli was observed.Thereafter, effect of two successive stimuli and genesis of tetanus was recorded in the same experimentalset up. We successfully standardised this in-situ model for teaching nerve and muscle physiology to our students.Conclusion: We propose an easy and effective experimental rat in-situ model for nerve-muscle physiologyteaching to students