research methods of neuroscience Flashcards
name the levels of description in neuroscience
psychological system microcircuits neuronal intracellualr molecular
name research constraints
time
money
ethics
faciliaties
what does an x ray technique do
confirm location of foreign objects - which are different to body
what does a contrast x ray show
contrast betwen intravascular and extravascular parts of body
how to run a contrast x ray
inject contrast agent into body
what does mri stand for
magnetic resonance imaging
describe the mri process
use of energy in frequency waves and the enegry absorbed which is measured in the body
difference between white and grey matter
describe PET scanning
use of radioactive tracer to measure levels of radioactivity
advantage of PET
good temporal resolution
disadvantage of PET
weak spatial resolution
how is eeg measured
use of ERPS which is the average sigal over many trials
when do small waves occur in eeg
far field potentials - occur far away from brain stem nuclei
how is fmri measured
use of BOLD to measure activity of oxygen flow in the brain
what is the contrast agent for fmri
blood
how is meg measured
electrical current of cells in white blood matter induce magnetic field
does eeg or meg have better temporal resolution
MEG
define TMS
trans-magentic stimulation
how does tms work
turn off areas of cortex
inhibit or excite tissue
induce current
what does tms allow you to do
measure cog function whilst some areas of brain are turned off
what are the 3 r principles of neuroscience methods
replacement
refienment
reduction
what are the strengths of using an invasive method
1) direct measurment of brain cells
2) determine connectivity betwen structures
3) allows circuit disurptions
4) lesion specific structures
what is intracellular unit recoding
electrode placed inside cell to measure brain activity inside cell
what is extracellular unit recording
measurements of large cell recordings
how can you determine connectivity between structures
observe effect of one stimulation on another brain region
how can you measure circuit disruptions
cut connection in a brain structure
measure effect on structures
record behaviour and activity
what do lesion structures show
show which structures are responsible for which functions
where does an aspiration lesion occur
corticol tissue
what is a knife cut lesion
sectioning process
what is a reversible lesion
eliminates brain activity while tests conducted
what are pharmological research methods
effect of drugs on thoughts/behaviour
do all drugs have the same neurotransmission
different drugs have different points of neurotransmission
when is pharmological mri used
both animals and humans
name ways in which drugs change neurotransmission
1) some block reuptake - increase availability
2) mimic effects of neurotransmitter
3) some block receptor
what are APP knockout mice
overproduction of amyloid
name 2 genetic manipulations
- engineering
2. optogenetics
define optogenetics
technique that uses specific brain cells sensitive to light
can be controlled
what is the technique optogenetics used for
used in animals to observe accurate target of specific cells
what is a retrograde tracer
tracing backwards to brain regions
what method is used to decide between invasive and non invasive methods
cost and benefit analysis
trade off
