An Educational Page About the Invertibrate Nervous System: That's Coherent!

"Invertibrate Nervous System"
Neuroscience for Kids, Eric H. Chudler, University of Washington

"Invertebrates are those animals without a backbone (spinal column). Invertebrates include animals such as insects, worms, jellyfish, spiders - these are only a few of the many types of spineless creatures.

"Invertebrates have played an important role in discoveries about how the nervous system works. The squid, aplysia (sea hare), leech, horseshoe crab, lobster, and cockroach have all provided scientists with models by which to study the nervous system. The squid even helped win the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1963.

"Invertebrates are useful animals to study because their nervous system functions in basically the same way as that of vertebrates. Neurons in all animals work using an electrochemical process. Because the nervous system of invertebrates is less complex than that of vertebrates, it is easier to isolate and study neural functions in these animals without backbones...."

Never mind the "for kids" part of this website's title. It "...has been created for all students and teachers who would like to learn about the nervous system...." And, in the Lemming's opinion, is a pretty good resource for anybody who's interested in the workings of nervous systems - and doesn't mind getting information in clear illustrations and coherent text.

If you prefer to read something that's exemplary of hypertrophied erudition and utilization of terminology enumerated within a recondite lexicon: you won't like Neuroscience for Kids. Eric H. Chudler apparently wants folks to understand what he's presented.

He'll use terms like "electrochemical process" with links to a page where the concept is discussed - again in a way where the reader doesn't have to know what's being discussed before reading about it.

The illustrations are simplified drawings, with enough detail to get the idea across.

I've suspected that clear, no-nonsense writing might be a refreshing change for both students and professors in the higher echelons of the education system - but that's another topic.