Squid are quite amazing creatures, and there are still plenty of things we don't know about them. Squid were first studied in the 1930s by zoologist John Zachary Young and physiologist Kenneth Cole and have since been used to study the properties of nerve cells, and have contributed to our understanding of the nervous system. Squid were used to show how the movement of ionic charges across a cell membrane causes an electrical signal which travels through nerve fibres (in English: "how your nerves work"). This work, which forms the basis of modern neurophysiology, received the Nobel Prize in 1963. Squid are molluscs with a highly developed sensory and nervous system, including complex eyes and brain. Despite the obvious differences between squid and humans, the assumption that our nervous systems function in the same way has allowed enormous advances in our understanding of neurophysiology and has helped understand Alzheimers, dementia, Huntingtons and other diseases where nerve transport breaks down.
