behavioural neuroscience methods Flashcards
what are the 3 types of validity
- construct validity
- predictive validity
- face validity
what is the criteria for construct validity
similar cause or pathophysiology between the human condition and animal model
- high effectiveness in single gene mutations
what is the criteria for predictive validity
treatments are effective in animal models are also effective in human models, and vise versa
what is the criteria for face validity
the symptoms of the animal model mimic the symptoms of the human condition
what are the 2 types of testing for behavioural tasks
translational or naturalistic
what is translational tasks
training an animal to mimic a human test
what is naturalistic tasks
use a relevant intrinsic or innate skill or preference of the animal
how can we measure fear
cued or contextual fear conditioning
how can we measure anxiety
elevated plus maze/eleveted platform/light-dark maze/open field
how can we measure attention
attentional set-shifting task (eg wisconsin card sort task)
how can we measure depression
learned helplessness/forced swim
how can we measure locomotor activity
activity box/open field
how can we measure locomotor coordination
rotarod, skilled reaching, balance beam
how can we measure sensory perception
von frey test, temperature sensitivity
what does heightened amydala activity relay within fear conditioning
cued fear conditioning (danger response)
what does heightened amygdala and hippocampus activity relay within fear conditioning
contextual fear conditioning (contextual danger response)
what is active place avoidance
uses negative reinforcement for learning and memory
shocks at a certain place in arena, mouse will soon learn to not go to that region
how is anxiety measured
measure time spent in open (aversive) vs closed (safe) areas
anti-anxiety drugs hopefully increase exploration of “unsafe” regions
what is the hippocampus responsible for wh=ithin attentional set and cognitive flexibiity tasks
learning the rule
what is the prefrontal cortext responsible for within attentional set and cognitive flexibiity tasks
flexibility - change memories when the rules change
what is anhedonia within the sucrose preference test
blunted reward value (depression)
what is the sucrose splash test
mouse is splashed with sticky water
once it becomes apathetic, it will no longer bother cleaning itself - shows a depressive phenotype
where is depression located within the brain
the anterior cingulate cortex
how are locomoter diseases (parkinsons, MS) tested
activity box/open field
compare WT to parkinsons locomotion (distance travelled etc)
how is huntingtons displayed on a rotarod
WT would last longer / be quicker than huntingtons
how is pain perception measured
mice on a hotplate - if they lift their paw it is a measure of the mechanical pressure that they can hand;e
