BehavioralNeurosciiBehavioralNeuroscience Deck Flashcards
Define Behavioral Neuroscience
Study of underlying biological mechanism of normal and abnormal behavior
Which model helps develop causal relationships between a factor and the onset of psychiatric illnesses?
Animal Models
What is a downfall of animal models?
Does not always correlate to human behavior
What does the Morris Water Maze test?
test of spatial memory
What does fear conditioning test?
memory for emotional events, fear extinction
What does the Rotarod test study?
Tests for motor deficits; mice go on a spinning apparatus where they try to hang on while the mechanism spins; when they fall she puts them back up
What is the purpose of the Forced Swim test?
Test for hopelessness/depression
-involves putting a rat or mouse into a small tank of water, from which it cannot escape
What is the Nesting test?
Test of activities of daily living and innate behavior
What is the point of the burrowing test?
Tests activities of daily living and innate behavior
Purpose of elevated zero test:
Test of anxiety/disinhibition; elevated maze; mice prefer the maze with enclosed arms which replicates the natural preference of a closed environment for the mice - this is how testing for how stress works;
tests drugs/hormones
Can you label the independent and dependent variables?
Independent: treatment with active medication (group a)
Dependent: participant response
Define histology
The study of cellular organization of body tissues and organs
3 Steps of Tissue Processing
- Removal/ extraction (get mouse brain, then freeze it - step 2 - so it doesn’t degrade)
- Fixation; multiple methods:
- flash freezing
- paraffin embedding
- chemical fixation - Mounting onto microscopic slide
- cover slip - important for proper microscope examination, protection and preservation of tissue
What does cryostat involve?
Thinly cuts specimen samples; often for quick review in managing or treating diseases surgically
T/F
Mice replicate psychological illness in humans exactly on their own
False; they need to be genetically modified to exhibit these illnesses; i.e. alzheimers
Why do you need to use the right stain?
Some tissues are more easily visualized depending on the stain used; i.e. for neuron growth so the stain is used that looks at dendritic spines or synapses
Define Thionin Stain
- Stain for DNA and Nissl substance (cytoplasmic RNA)
- are we in the right region of the brain
- doesn’t stain axons, only cell bodies
- good for assessing neuronal damage as Nissl substance is decreased under pathological conditions
Define Thioflavin-S Stain
- Tau tangle that develops in Alzheimer’s disease
- tangles show up fluorescent green
- Tangles are counted and sized to determine differences between groups
- software available to complete analysis
Define Congo-Red Staining
- visualize amyloid plaques formed in Alzheimer’s disease
- CR staining kit often comes with a stain that also stains for cell bodies to allow for visualization of brain regions so you know you are in the right area (blue area with tiny red plaque)
Procedure for Staining
Hydrating, then dehydrating, then hydrating
- Dehydrate: alcohol
- Hydrate: H2O
- Xylene fixes stain
Define Immunohistochemistry
You can mark tissue with an antibody so when you tag it with a color and it connects to a cell you will be able to see that cell(s) because they will be fluorescent from the stain from the antibody
Example: IHC can be used to stain for certain location of proteins in the brain
What is the main purpose of IHC?
To determine the location of a certain protein in the brain, rather than a total quantity of protein
Why is cover slipping important?
Prevents specimen from touching lens
