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Updated: May 28, 2026
Local and Global Methods of Assessing Thermal Nociception in Drosophila Larvae
Published on: May 18, 2012
Teaching report: the use of Drosophila melanogaster larval thermosensitive escape behaviour as a model system to
Adrian B Harrison1, Matthew Oswald, Sean T Sweeney
1Department of Biology (Area 1), University of York, P.O. Box 373, York YO10 5YW, UK. adrian.harrison@york.ac.uk
Abstract:
We describe how a novel thermosensitive escape behaviour in Drosophila larvae can be used to teach neurobiology principles to both undergraduates and school children. The assays are inexpensive, robust and reliably accurate employing apparatus readily available in most science classrooms. The use of Drosophila avoids the employment of vertebrate models and the ethical and expense issues that this entails. We use this practical to effectively teach the principals of calibration and neural sensory responses to post-16-year-old students and undergraduate students.
