Lab Notebooks
Adapted from Burdo (2013), Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education 11(2):A178-A186
Purpose: Provide a permanent record of your experiments that is clear and comprehensive enough for
you or a technically skilled but otherwise unfamiliar person to accurately recreate the experiment.
Format:
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Use a notebook with a sewn binding and pre-numbered pages (for this course, writing in the
numbers before using the notebook is fine).
Leave 2-4 pages at the front for a Table of Contents (~10 pages in a full lab notebook)
o At the top of the first page, write your name, e-mail address or phone number, and the
course number and name (NEUR 4002 Neurogenetics Laboratory)
o ToC pages should have columns for the name of the experiment, the date it was
performed, and the page numbers where it starts and ends.
Use 2-4 pages at the back of the notebook for a glossary of terms and abbreviations that you will
use throughout the notebook.
o Abbreviations used only within certain experiments may be defined on the first page of
the experiment.
Write in non-erasable ink. Not pencil, not Sharpie or other markers.
o When you make a mistake, cross it out with a single line so that the information can still
be read. When applicable, add a short note explaining why you crossed out the
information.
Do not have anything loose in the notebook. When you need to add printed items such as
graphs they should be stapled in.
o Write the date and page number on the stapled item in case it gets loose.
Documentation of Experiments:
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Title and date of documentation
Hypothesis (if applicable) and experimental objective(s)
Detailed description of procedure
Data and observations
Conclusions and interpretations
Reflections, implications, future plans
Documentation of experiments performed by other members of your group should be added to your
own lab notebook. They should include everything above, plus a note indicating when the experiment
was performed (if different from date of documentation) and who actually performed it.
Example entry:
Determining the larval response to having an ice cube dropped on the head
02-10-2020
Objective: empirically determine the behavioral response elicited by dropping an ice cube on the head
of a Drosophila larva.
Procedure:
1. Set up video camera on tripod to record at 30 frames/second; ensure camera is focused on behavioral
arena.
2. Obtain one wandering 3rd instar wild-type larvae (genotype w1118 ; + ; + ), wash larva to remove any
debris.
3. Gently mist behavioral arena with distilled or tap water so that larva does not dry out during testing.
4. Place larva on behavioral arena, place arena under video camera, allow larva to acclimate for 10
seconds or until spontaneously locomoting, whichever occurs first.
5. Begin recording.
6. Wait 3 seconds, then drop one ice cube weighing between 2 and 2.2 grams onto the larva’s head from
a distance of 5 cm.
7. Continue recording for 15 seconds.
8. Remove and dispose of larva. Clean behavioral arena with 70% ethanol, allow to dry then repeat
procedure with an additional 14 larvae.
Data collection and analysis:
Have each video scored for larval behavioral response by 3 independent observers. Observers instructed
to record any of the following behaviors exhibited by the larva in the 10 seconds immediately following
the ice cube drop:
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Somersault
C-bend
Corkscrew roll
Bilateral contraction
Unilateral contraction
Escape locomotion
Observers also encouraged to make additional notes if any larvae exhibited unlisted behaviors.
Behaviors recorded by all 3 observers are noted as the primary response. If an additional behavior was
noted by 2 observers, it is noted as a secondary/possible response. Behaviors were entered into an Excel
spreadsheet for analysis.
Conclusion:
All 15 larvae demonstrated a somersault response to the stimulus of having an ice cube dropped on
their head. Larvae #s 5, 7, and 12 exhibited a secondary response of escape locomotion.
Reflections:
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Some videos had the larva partially or entirely obscured for a few seconds when the
experimenter was dropping the ice cube. This may have resulted in missing the
immediate/initial response in some larvae. Try using forceps to drop the ice next time?
Why did only 3 larvae try to escape ice boulders dropping on their heads? Could the somersault
response be exhausting the muscles used for escape locomotion in most larvae, or inactivating
the locomotion circuit? Check literature.
Next experiment:
Optogenetic activation of Class I, II, III, and IV md neurons to see if any of them are candidates for
mediating the ice drop somersault response.