Studying the Brain Flashcards
What are 4 principles guiding animal research?
- permitted if the derived knowledge can reasonably be expected to benefit humans/animals/environment
- optimal standard helps increase credibility and reliability of science
- must be humane
- only if no reasonable alternative exists
What is the goal of whole animal manipulations? Examples?
determining how an environmental condition affects brain and behaviour
diet, exercise, drugs, sensory stimulation, social interactions…
What is the goal of permanent brain lesions?
remove/destroy neural tissue to observe behavioural changes
What is the goal of temporary/reversible brain lesions?
short term silencing of neural tissue to observe behavioural changes
What is the goal of genetic lesions? Example?
remove genetic material
knock out technology, crispr
What is the goal of genetic stimulation? Examples?
add genetic material
knock in techonology
What is the goal of drug manipulations?
determine receptor systems role in the CNS
What is the goal of electric/magnetic stimulation? Examples?
excite neural tissue
deep brain stimulation and TMS
What is the goal of optogenetics?
use light to activate specific ions channels and relate to behaviour
What is chemogenetics?
use specific synthetic drugs to activate designer receptors
What is the goal of behavioural analysis? Examples?
observe behaviour, tests to allow research subjects to demonstrate behavioural capacities
naturalistic observation, tests, mazes
What is the goal of tissue analysis? Example?
identify cell types and connections, identify disease states
stains
What are the three main types of animal studies?
whole animal, brain manipulation, behavioral paradigms
What is neuropsychological testing? Examples?
comprehensive assesment of cognitive/psychological strengths and weaknesses in humans
tests, questionnaires, clinical interview
What is the goal of neuropsychological testing?
identify and localize the dysfunction
What are some advantages and disadvantages of neuropsychological testing?
pros: comprehensive evaluation, tailored to individual, minimal stress/non-invasive
cons: performance-based, can’t be confident that the tests are reliable/valuable, brain pathology inferred from behaviour
What are the two main types of neuroimaging?
structural and functional
What are some examples of structural neuroimaging techniques?
mri, ct
How do CT work?
series of x-rays of different layers of the brain that are put together to make a full image
How do MRI work?
introduces a magnetic field which affects the hydrogen in the brain, uses this to make an image of the brain
What are some examples of functional neuroimaging techniques?
EEG, MEG, PET/SPECT, fMRI
What is EEG good/bad at?
finding out when something is happening in the brain but not where
How is MEG different from MRI?
mri introduces a magentic field to get image
meg passively detects the magnetic singals coming from neurons
How do PET scan work?
uses radioisotopes injected into bloodstream and gamma rays to make 3D image
How does fMRI work?
uses how blood flow changes in response to our brain doing certain tasks
What are some limits to fMRI?
costly, not everyone can use it, claustrophobic
What is fNIRS?
uses infrared light to measure relative changes in concentrations of oxygenated and deoxygenated blood in cerebral cortex
What two things are needed to activate neurons?
glucose and oxygen via hemoglobin
What is neurovascular coupling?
mechanism that links neural activity to the subseqeunt change in cerebral blood flow
The propagation of light through biological tissue depends on what factors?
reflection, scattering, absorption
What wavelength does fNIRS use?
650-850 nm
What does the beer-lampert law do?
describes the relationship between the absorption and concentration of a chromophore
What is a limitation of fNIRS?
the light diffuses rapidly when it enters the cortical tissue, not suitable for structures more than 2-3cm below brain surface
