Chapter 4: Research Techniques Flashcards
Simple Behavioral Observation
tremors, ptosis (drooping eyelids), salivation, catalepsy (sensation of movement)
Measures of Motor Activity
- identify drugs that produce sleep, sedation, loss of coordination, or drugs that stimulate activity
- open field- rodents run around open field and explore whole box
Measures of Learning and Memory
- Morris water maze
- Delayed- response test
Morris water maze
- circular pool of water made opaque by addition of milk or dye
- animals must swim until they find escape platform hidden from view just below water surface
- animals learn spatial position of platform relative to landmarks outside the pool
- depends on hippocampal memory system
Delayed- response test
- similar to evaluating working memory in humans
- a delay between stimulus presentation (food) and testing evaluates recall for the position of food
Measures of Anxiety
- Light- dark crossing
- Elevated plus-maze
- Conditioned emotional response
Light- dark crossing
- unconditioned anxiety
- animals naturally avoid brightly lit places
- L-D box has one side brightly lit and the other side is dark
- measures include number of crossings, time spent on each side, total motor activity
Elevated plus-maze
- unconditioned anxiety
- cross-shaped maze raised off the floor
- two arms are open, and two ars have enclosed sides
- antianxiety drugs increase amount of exploration of the open arms
- drugs that increase anxiety decrease exploration of open arms
Conditioned emotional responses
- presentation of a signal (a light or tone, CS) is followed by an unavoidable electric shock (US)
- after conditioning (US+CS pairing), the signal (CS) will elicit a conditioned response (CR or CER)
- conditioned freezing
- fear- potentiated startle
Measure of Depression- Like Behavior
- Forced swim test
- Sucrose preference test
Forced swim test
- behavioral despair
- animal must swim in a cylinder from which it can’t escape
- immobility reflects a lowered mood
- animal model of hopelessness
Sucrose preference test
- anhedonia, inability to derive pleasure from normally pleasurable events
- animals are given a choice of water or sucrose solution, which they normally prefer
- a variety of stressors can reduce sucrose preference
Drug Self- Administration
- an indicator of abuse potential in humans
- varying the schedule of reinforcement determines how hard an animal will work for drug
- breaking point
- also used to study withdrawal and/ or relapse
Breaking Point
point at which effort required exceeds reinforcing value- the higher the breaking point, the higher the abuse potential
Optogenetics
manipulates neural circuits using light
- can activate/ inhibit certain channels
Chemogenetics
puts in receptors to artificially activate secondary messengers
- designer receptor activated by designer drug (DReADD)
Lesioning
uses stereotaxic device to position delicate electrode deep within brain
- tissue at tip is destroyed when current goes through electrode
Neurotoxins
chemical that damages nerve cells
- can be injected via cannula (hollow tube instrument)
Microdialysis
also uses stereotaxic surgery
- lets us measure NTs released in specific brain regions while subject is engaged in behavior
In Vivo Voltametry
uses stereotaxically implanted microelectrodes to measure neurochemicals in ECF of freely moving animals
Macroelectrodes
used to activate cells at tip while changes in animal behavior is evaluated during stimulation
- can also be used to record summated electrical response in specific brain region
Microelectrode
single- unit recording of electrical into single cell
Intracellular Recording- implanting fine-tipped electrode into single cell
Extracellular Recording- measures ECF near single cell
Patch Clamp Electrophysiology
used to study function of individual ion channels
Antibody Production
protein produced by WBCs to recognize, attack and destroy antigens
- researchers use antibodies that bind to specific proteins to locate then in brain
