Lecture 5: Research Methods in Neuroscience

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Taken from Lecture 5 notes of PSY 314
McKenzie Sanders
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McKenzie Sanders
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What is experimental ablation? Removal or destruction of a portion of the brain of a lab animal
What is the assumption that experimental ablation makes? Presumed that i functions are lost they are controlled by the region that was taken out or destroyed
What is a lesion study? Experimental study where the behavior of animals with brain lesions is observed
What are the goals of experimental ablation? Discover what functions are performed by different regions of the brain Understand how these functions are combined to accomplish particular behaviors
What is a consideration of experimental ablation? Must be careful in interpreting results; brains are not comprised of discrete units If you affect one thing you affect others
What are the different ways in which researchers produce lesions? RF lesion Excitotoxic lesion Selective lesions Reversible lesions
What is an RF lesion? Brain lesion produced by passing radio frequency current through a wire in the brain
What is an excitotoxic lesion? Lesion produced by an intracerebral injection of an excitatory amino acid
What is a selective lesion? Can lesion particular groups of neurons with specific drugs
What is a reversible lesion? Can use an anesthetic such as lidocaine to anesthetize part of the brain during a particular task
What is stereotaxic surgery? Brain surgery using a stereotaxic apparatus to position an electrode or cannula in a specified position of the brain
What is the function of an electrode in stereotaxic surgery? Produces an electrical current
What is a cannula? Small tube used to deliver drugs
What is a stereotaxic apparatus used for? Holds the animal's head rigidly in a 3D coordinate system
What is a reference point? Need a zero point for the 3D coordinate system
What is the stereotaxic atlas? Species specific collection of drawings or sections of the brain with measurements that provide coordinates
What is the junction of the sagittal and coronal sutures of the skull called? Bregma
Which group of humans allows us the opportunity to study the human brain? Brain damage patients Disease or Accident
How do we observe the behavioral effects of brain damage? Correlate possible function to brain areas that are damaged
What is the goal of studying human brains? To associate particular brain areas with particular functions or behaviors
What is a consideration in studying the human brain? Imprecise lesions
Which 2 imaging methods are used to study the human brain? Computerized tomography (CT) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
What is a CT scan? The use of a device that employs a computer to analyze data obtained by a scanning beam of X-rays to produce a 2D picture
What is an MRI? Technique used to image the interior of the body/brain using the interaction between radio waves & a strong magnetic field
What is a histological method? Need to very placement of lesion, electrode or cannula
What are the uses of histological methods? Fix tissue Section the brain Examine the brain
Why do we need to preserve brain tissue in order to study the brain? Unpreserved tissue degrades due to enzymatic activity
What is a fixative? Chemical used to prepare and preserve body tissue
What is a microtome used for? Instrument used to produce very thin slices of tissue
What is the purpose of staining? Staining is used to see the fine details in the tissue Tissue itself is gray
How are brain lesions verified? By using a cell body stain Look at slides under a light microscope to verify placement
What 2 processes are used to identify neurons that contain a particular type of receptor? Immunocytochemistry Autoradiography
What is immunocytochemistry? Localization of the receptor using histological methods (antibody binding to receptor)
What is autoradiography? Localization of a radioactive ligand (radioactive substance binding to receptor) Can stain neurons that have a particular receptor subtype
What process is used in identifying neurons that produce a particular neurotransmitter? Immunocytochemistry
What is involved in the process of immunocytochemistry? Localization of a peptide or protein Localization of synthesizing enzyme
What is anterograde labeling? Labels axons and terminal buttons of neurons located in a particular region
How does anterograde labeling work? Chemical is taken up by dendrites and cell bodies Transported down the axon to the terminal buttons (Anterograde axoplasmic transport)
What is PHA-L? A protein used as an anterograde tracer
What is retrograde labeling? Labels cell bodies that give rise to terminal buttons that form synapses with cells in a particular region
How does retrograde labeling work? Chemical is taken up by terminal buttons Transported back up the axon to the cell body
What is fluorogold? Dye that is used as a retrograde tracer
What is the goal of tracing neural pathways? Map neural pathways
What are the considerations in tracing neural pathways? Amount of tracer to inject How long to wait between the injection of the tracer and sacrificing the animal
What method is used to record neural activity? EEG
What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)? A recording of the electrical activity from a population of neurons
How is an EEG taken? Electrodes are placed on the scalp and differences in potential are recorded and summed Record by frequency (Hz) and amplitude
Which 4 waves associated with different stages of awareness during an EEG? Alpha Beta Theta Delta
On which population is single-cell recording performed? Animals
What is the purpose of a microelectrode? Used to record activity of individual neurons
How can we record firing rate? Chronic recordings can be made from electrodes that have been stereotactically implanted
When are single-cell recordings done? While the animal is performing a behavior
What else is activated when neurons are? Particular genes
Which protein is produced as a result of neural activation? Fos
What does Fos labelling tell us? If a neuron has recently been active
What is immunohistochemistry? Uses antibodies to identify specific molecules in tissue
How is metabolic activity recorded in living people? Positron emission tomography (PET)
What is a PET scan? Use of a device that reveals the location of a radioactive tracer in a living brain Detects radioactive decay of 2-DG
What is an fMRI? Functional MRI Using MRI signal changes (produced by changes in blood flow to active areas) while people are performing tasks to assess areas that could be involved in that particular task performance
Which method has better resolution: PET or fMRI? fMRI
What genetic methods are used in neuroscience? Knock out mice (targeted mutations) Twin studies Adoption studies
What are "knock out mice"? Example of targeted mutations Lab mouse in which researchers have inactivated an existing gene by replacing it or disrupting it with an artificial piece of DNA
What are twin studies used for? Examining the influence of heredity of a particular trait
How are twin studies performed? Compare concordance rates between monozygotic and dizygotic twins
What is a concordance rate in twin studies? Amount of twins sharing the trait being studied
What are adoption studies used for? Examine the heritability of a trait
How are adoption studies done? Compare people adopted early in life with biological and adoptive parents
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