Purpose

The ultimate goal of this research is to illustrate

that lachrymatory agents have detrimental effects
on the sensory neuron of red worms when they
have exposure. By using lachrymatory agents like
nonivamide, onion, and pepper spray, the
illustration can prove that tear gas, a detrimental
lachrymatory agent that harmfully stimulates
sensory neurons, has detrimental effects on a
humans peripheral nervous system after
exposure.

Rationale

The lachrymatory agent excites the sensory

neuron because of the fast pathway that is
induced through the pain that occurs when the
worm is in contact with the chemical. The pain
message will be sent quickly in the neuron,
therefore a faster electrical transmittance will
occur (How Does the Pain Signal Reach the Brain?).

Variables

Independent Variables: The red worms served under

environments exposed to 1) Onion slush, 2) Nonivamide,
and 3) Mace Pepper Spray in the soil
Dependent Variables: The Backyard Brains Spikerbox, a
bioamplifier, will compute the conduction velocity of the
worms neuron when it is connected to Audacity, a sound
software. The difference in channel times divided by
worm length is the conduction velocity. Conduction
velocity is the speed of the neural synapse.
Control: The red worm environments that are not
exposed to lachrymatory agents 1) simply water & 2)
100% Ethyl Alcohol. The 100% Ethyl Alcohol chamber is
solely needed to compare with the nonivamide chamber
because nonivamide does not dissolve in water.
Constants: 100 mL distilled water in each chamber, 100 g
organic soil & worm bedding mix, and 10% Ethyl Alcohol
anesthetic

Research

A sensory neuron is a nerve cell that transmits

sensory information from the spine and brain like
sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound.
Tear gas is a chemical weapon that activates
corneal nerves in the eyes causing extreme
irritation and pain. It irritates mucous membranes
in the eyes, nose, mouth, and lungs
Lachrymatory Agent
Synapse facilitates the transfer of information in a
neuron (Gilliatt, R. W, 1966); the transfer is
susceptible to chemicals, increasing or decreasing
the speed of the transfer
Nociceptor: a receptor of a sensory neuron that
responds to potential damaging stimuli by sending
signals synapses
An axon is a long thread-like fiber of a neuron
which carries outgoing messages from the neuron
s cell body (The Basic Concept of the Human Brain
Nerve, n.d.).
A dendrite is the fiber of a neuron that brings
information to the cell body (The Basic Concept of
the Human Brain Nerve, n.d.).
In this experiment, Axodendritic synapse is
apparent. It is the synaptic contact between an
axon of one nerve cell to the dendrite of another
neuron (The Synapse, n.d.).