BehavioralNeurosciiBehavioralNeuroscience Deck

Question 1

Define Behavioral Neuroscience

Answer 1

Study of underlying biological mechanism of normal and abnormal behavior

Question 2

Which model helps develop causal relationships between a factor and the onset of psychiatric illnesses?

Answer 2

Animal Models

Question 3

What is a downfall of animal models?

Answer 3

Does not always correlate to human behavior

Question 4

What does the Morris Water Maze test?

Answer 4

test of spatial memory

Question 5

What does fear conditioning test?

Answer 5

memory for emotional events, fear extinction

Question 6

What does the Rotarod test study?

Answer 6

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

Question 7

What is the purpose of the Forced Swim test?

Answer 7

Test for hopelessness/depression

-involves putting a rat or mouse into a small tank of water, from which it cannot escape

Question 8

What is the Nesting test?

Answer 8

Test of activities of daily living and innate behavior

Question 9

What is the point of the burrowing test?

Answer 9

Tests activities of daily living and innate behavior

Question 10

Purpose of elevated zero test:

Answer 10

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

Question 11

Can you label the independent and dependent variables?

Answer 11

Independent: treatment with active medication (group a)

Dependent: participant response

Question 12

Define histology

Answer 12

The study of cellular organization of body tissues and organs

Question 13

3 Steps of Tissue Processing

Answer 13

1. Removal/ extraction (get mouse brain, then freeze it - step 2 - so it doesn’t degrade)
2. Fixation; multiple methods:
   - flash freezing
   - paraffin embedding
   - chemical fixation
3. Mounting onto microscopic slide
   - cover slip - important for proper microscope examination, protection and preservation of tissue

Question 14

What does cryostat involve?

Answer 14

Thinly cuts specimen samples; often for quick review in managing or treating diseases surgically

Question 15

T/F

Mice replicate psychological illness in humans exactly on their own

Answer 15

False; they need to be genetically modified to exhibit these illnesses; i.e. alzheimers

Question 16

Why do you need to use the right stain?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

Define Thionin Stain

Answer 17

• 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

Question 18

Define Thioflavin-S Stain

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

Define Congo-Red Staining

Answer 19

• 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)

Question 20

Procedure for Staining

Answer 20

Hydrating, then dehydrating, then hydrating

• Dehydrate: alcohol
• Hydrate: H2O
• Xylene fixes stain

Question 21

Define Immunohistochemistry

Answer 21

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

Question 22

What is the main purpose of IHC?

Answer 22

To determine the location of a certain protein in the brain, rather than a total quantity of protein

Question 23

Why is cover slipping important?

Answer 23

Prevents specimen from touching lens