Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Physiology of Behaviour > Chapter 5: Methods and Strategies of Research > Flashcards

Chapter 5: Methods and Strategies of Research Flashcards

1
Q

An important research method used to investigate brain functions involves destroying part of the brain and evaluating an animal’s subsequent behavior.

A

Experimental ablation.

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

A wound or injury.

A

Lesion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What a researcher who destroys part of the brain usually refers to the damage as.

A

Brain lesion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

Experiments in which part of the brain is damaged and the individual’s behavior is subsequently observed.

A

Lesion studies

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

An alternating current of a very high frequency.

A

Radio frequency (RF) current

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

Excitatory amino acid which kills neurons by stimulating them to death.

A

Kainic acid

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

Lesions produced in a way of employing an excitatory amino acid.

A

Excitotoxic lesions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

A small metal tube where an excitatory amino acid is injected through.

A

Cannula

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

A toxic protein conjugated with antibodies that will bind with particular proteins found only on certain types of neurons in the brain.

A

Saporin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

Produced by including an additional group of animals in a lesion study.

A

Sham lesions

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

Blocks action potentials in axons entering or
leaving that region, thus effectively producing a temporary lesion.

A

Reversible brain lesion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

A local anesthetic that blocks action potentials in axons entering or leaving a region; drug that stimulates GABA receptors.

A

Muscimol

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

Allows researchers to get an electrode or cannula to a precise location in the depths of an animal’s brain.

A

Stereotaxic surgery

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

Refers to the ability to locate objects in space.

A

Stereotaxis

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

Contains a holder that keeps the animal’s head in a standard position and an arm that moves an electrode or a cannula through measured distances in all three axes of space.

A

Stereotaxic apparatus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

A book, website, or software that contains images that correspond to frontal sections of the brain taken at various distances rostral and caudal to bregma.

A

Stereotaxic atlas

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

Formed by several bones that grow together in the skull.

A

Sutures (Seams)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

A soft spot at the junction of the coronal and sagittal sutures on the heads of babies.

A

Fontanelle

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

The junction once the gap on the heads of babies closes.

A

Bregma

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

Used to treat chronic pain, movement disorders (including Parkinson’s disease), epilepsy, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder; utilizes a stereotaxic apparatus to implant a permanent electrode into the brain of patients.

A

Deep brain stimulation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

Procedures where histologists (specialists in these techniques) fix, slice, stain, and examine the brain.

A

Histological methods

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

Where the neural tissue is placed to be preserved from autolytic enzymes and to prevent its decomposition by bacteria or molds.

A

Fixative

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

Most commonly used fixative; aqueous solution of formaldehyde, a gas; links protein to strengthen the very soft and fragile brain tissue, and kills any microorganisms that might destroy it.

A

Formalin

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
24
Q

Entails removal of the blood and its replacement with another fluid.

A

Perfusion

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
25
Contains three parts: a knife, a platform on which to mount the tissue, and a mechanism that advances the knife (or the platform) the correct amount after each slice so that another section can be cut.
Microtome
26
Similar to a microtome; however, the entire cutting process occurs within a freezer, allowing sections to be cut at very cold temperatures.
Cryostat
27
A transparent liquid that covers the stained sections.
Mounting medium
28
2 examples of dyes that stain the cell bodies of brain tissue.
Methylene blue Cresyl violet
29
One of the simplest stains researchers use for verifying the location of a brain lesion.
Cell-body stain
30
The material that takes up the dye within the cell; consists of RNA, DNA, and associated proteins located in the nucleus and scattered, in the form of granules, in the cytoplasm.
Nissl substance
31
Used to examine stained tissue; limited in its ability to reveal extremely small details.
Light microscope
32
Used by investigators to see very small anatomical structures as synaptic vesicles and details of cell organelles.
Transmission electron microscope
33
Provides less magnification than a standard transmission electron microscope, which transmits the electron beam through the tissue.
Scanning electron microscope
34
The advent of this microscope makes it possible to see details inside thick sections of tissue or even in slabs of tissue maintained in tissue cultures or in the upper layers of tissue in the exposed living brain.
Confocal lase scanning microscope
35
A special mirror that transmits light of certain wavelengths and reflects light of other wavelengths.
Dichroic mirror
36
Employ chemicals that are taken up by dendrites or cell bodies and are then transported through the axons toward the terminal buttons.
Anterograde labeling method
37
A protein found in kidney beans.
PHA-L
38
Take advantage of an immune reaction; used to make the molecules of PHA-L visible.
Immunocytochemical method
39
Proteins (or peptides), such as those found on the surface of bacteria or viruses.
Antigens
40
Proteins that are produced by white blood cells to destroy invading microorganisms.
Antibodies
41
Employ chemicals that are taken up by terminal buttons and carried backward through the axons toward the cell bodies.
Retrograde labeling methods
42
A retrograde chemical.
Fluorogold
43
Identify a series of two, three, or more neurons that form serial synaptic connections with each other.
Transneuronal tracing methods
44
A weakened form of a pig herpes virus that was originally developed as a vaccine.
Pseudorabis virus
45
Similar to the one that causes cold sores used for anterograde transneuronal tracing.
Herpes simplex virus
46
The first method that was developed; usually referred to as a CT scan.
Computerized Tomography (CT)
47
Provides an even more detailed, high-resolution picture of what is inside a person’s head.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
48
Takes advantage of the fact that the movement of water molecules in bundles of white matter will not be random but will tend to be in a direction parallel to the axons that make up the bundles.
Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI)
49
Usually made of thin wires, have a very fine tip, small enough to record the electrical activity of individual neurons.
Microelectrodes
50
Technique used in recording the activity of neurons.
Single-unit recording
51
Records that are obtained with these devices represent the postsynaptic potentials of many thousands—or millions—of cells in the area of the electrode.
Macroelectrodes
52
Plots the changes in voltage detected by the electrodes along a timeline during recording.
Polygraph
53
“Writings of electricity from the head.”
Electroencephalograms (EEGs)
54
Performed with neuromagnetometers oriented so that a computer can examine their output and calculate the source of particular signals in the brain.
Magnetoencephalography
55
Devices that contain an array of several SQUIDs.
Neuromagnetometers
56
Can be translated roughly as “writing with one’s own radiation.”
Autoradiography
57
One of the nuclear proteins produced during neural activation
Fos
58
A computerized method of detecting metabolic or chemical changes within the brain.
Functional imaging
59
The first functional imaging method to be developed.
Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
60
The current brain-imaging method with the best spatial resolution; reveal more detailed information about the activity of particular brain regions.
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
61
Uses a coil of wires, usually arranged in the shape of the numeral 8, to noninvasively stimulate neurons in the cerebral cortex.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
62
Can be used to stimulate or inhibit particular types of neurons in specific brain regions.
Optogenetic methods
63
Found in green algae; controls ion channels that, when open, permit the flow of sodium, potassium, and calcium ions.
Channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2)
64
A second photosensitive protein found in a bacterium; controls a transporter that moves chloride into the cell when activated by yellow light.
Natronomonas pharaonis halorhodopsin (NpHR)
65
A procedure used to measure the amount of neurotransmitter released in particular regions of the brain.
Microdialysis
66
A process in which substances are separated by means of an artificial membrane that is permeable to some molecules but not others.
Dialysis
67
Allows a researcher tolocalize the chemicals themselves or localize the enzymes that produce the neurochemicals of interest, within specific neurons.
Immunocytochemical methods
68
Involves exposing brain tissue to antibodies that are selective for a protein on the receptor of interest.
Immunocytochemistry
69
If both twins have been diagnosed with this disorder, they are said to be?
Concordant
70
If only one has received this diagnosis, the twins are said to be?
Discordant
71
Consists of the DNA that encodes our genetic information.
Genome
72
The particular form of an individual gene.
Allele
73
Identify families whose members vary with respect to a particular trait.
Linkage studies
74
Attempt to determine the location in the genome of genes responsible for various physical and behavioral traits.
Genomic studies
75
Sequences of DNA whose locations are already known.
Markers
76
Permit researchers to compare all or portions of the genomes of different individuals to determine whether differences in the people’s genomes correlate with the presence or absence of diseases (or other traits).
Genomwide association studies
77
Used to change the production of a specific protein.
Targeted mutations
78
Cause the animal’s genes to stop expressing a particular gene when the animal is given a particular drug.
Conditional knockouts
79
Can be used to block the production of a specific protein, revealing its role in a behavior.
Antisense oligonucleotides
80
Help researchers understand the genetic and environmental contributions to a behavior.
Adoption studies
81
Help researchers understand the contributions of genetic differences to variations in behavior.
Concordance rate

Physiology of Behaviour (12 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions