ABSTRACT
The nervous system of the cockroach has been and continues to be an excellent experimental model for a variety of physiological, pharmacological, toxicological, and behavioral investigations. This chapter provides a brief introduction to the overall gross morphology of the nervous system in the cockroach and discusses some of the neuronal components of the cockroach nervous system. It describes the neuronal circuits underlying some behavioral models and the glial sheath around the central nervous system (CNS), as well as some of the interesting changes that occur in the glial elements during peripheral regeneration. The cockroach CNS is comprised of two basic gross morphological elements: ganglia and connectives. Ganglia are aggregations of neurons. Connectives are the central neural structures which join adjacent ganglia. The thoracic CNS of the cockroach is composed of three ganglia (pro-, meso-, and metathoracic) joined by paired connectives. Each ganglia is responsible for processing and integrating sensory information and controlling motor output to their appropriate thoracic segments.
