Physiology Of Behavior - Chapter 5 - Methods And Strategies Of Research

Front 1

What is experimental ablation?

Back 1

The removal or destruction of a portion of the brain of a laboratory animal; presumably, the functions that can no longer be performed are the ones the region previously controlled.

Front 2

What is a synonym for a lesion study?

Back 2

Experimental ablation.

Front 3

What is an excitotoxic lesion?

Back 3

A brain lesion produced by intracerebral injection of an excitatory amino acid, such as kainic acid.

Front 4

What is 6-hydroxydopamine (6-HD)?

Back 4

A chemical that is selectively taken up by axons and terminal buttons of noradrenergic or dopaminergic neurons and acts as a poison, damaging or killing them.

Front 5

What is a sham lesion?

Back 5

A "placebo" procedure that duplicates all the steps of producing a brain lesion except for the one that actually causes the brain damage.

Front 6

What is stereotaxic surgery?

Back 6

Brain surgery using a stereotaxic apparatus to position an electrode or cannula in a specified position of the brain.

Front 7

What is the bregma?

Back 7

The junction of the sagittal and coronal sutures of the skull; often used as a reference point for sterotaxic brain surgery.

Front 8

What is the sterotaxic atlas?

Back 8

A collection of drawings of sections of the brain of a particular animal with measurements that provide coordinates for stereotaxic surgery.

Front 9

What is a stereotaxic apparatus?

Back 9

A device that permits a surgeon to position an electrode or cannula into a specific part of the brain.

Front 10

What is a fixative?

Back 10

A chemical such as formalin; used to prepare and preserve body tissue.

Front 11

What is formalin?

Back 11

The aqueous solution of formaldehyde gas; the most commonly used tissue fixative.

Front 12

What is perfusion?

Back 12

The process by which an animal's blood is replaced by a fluid such as a saline solution or a fixative in preparing the brain for histological examination.

Front 13

What is a microtome?

Back 13

An instrument that produces very thin slices of body tissues.

Front 14

What is a scanning electron microscope?

Back 14

A microscope that provides three-dimensional information about the shape of the surface of an object.

Front 15

What is the anterograde labeling method?

Back 15

A histological method that labels the axons and terminal buttons of neurons whose cell bodies are located in a particular region.

Front 16

What is PHA-L?

Back 16

Phaseolus vulgaris leukoagglutinin; a protein derived from lima beans used as an anterograde tracer; taken up by dendrites and cell bodies and carried to the ends of the axons.

Front 17

What is the immunocytochemical method?

Back 17

A histological method that uses radioactive antibodies or antibodies bound with a dye molecule to indicate the presence of particular proteins of peptides.

Front 18

What is the retrograde labeling method?

Back 18

A histological method that labels cell bodies that give rise to the terminal buttons that from synapses with cells in a particular region.

Front 19

What is fluorogold?

Back 19

A dye that serves as a retrograde label; taken up by terminal buttons and carried back to the cell bodies.

Front 20

What is computerized tomography (CT)?

Back 20

The use of a device that employs a computer to analyze data obtained by a scanning beam of X rays to produce a two-dimensional picture of a "slice" through the body.

Front 21

What is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)?

Back 21

A technique whereby the interior of the body can be accurately imaged; involves the interaction between radio waves and a strong magnetic field.

Front 22

What is a microelectrode?

Back 22

A very fine electrode, generally used to record activity of individual neurons.

Front 23

What is single-unit recording?

Back 23

Recording of the electrical activity of a single neuron.

Front 24

What is a macroelectrode?

Back 24

An electrode used to record the electrical activity of large numbers of neurons in a particular region of the brain; much larger than a microelectrode.

Front 25

What is an electroencephalogram (EEG)?

Back 25

An electrical brain potential recorded by placing electrodes on or in the scalp.

Front 26

What is 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG)?

Back 26

A sugar that enters cells along with glucose but is not metabolized.

Front 27

What is autoradiography?

Back 27

A procedure that locates radioactive substances in a slice of tissue; the radiation exposes a photographic emulsion or a piece of film that covers the tissue.

Front 28

What is Fos?

Back 28

A protein produced in the nucleus of a neuron in response to synaptic stimulation.

Front 29

What is positron emission tomography (PET)?

Back 29

The use of a device that reveals the localization of a radioactive tracer in a living brain.

Front 30

What is a functional MRI (fMRI)?

Back 30

A modification of the MRI procedure that permits the measurement of regional metabolism in the brain.

Front 31

What is microdialysis?

Back 31

A procedure for analyzing chemicals present in the interstitial fluid through a small piece of tubing made of a semipermeable membrane that is implanted in the brain.

Front 32

What is a multibarreled micropipette?

Back 32

A group of micropipettes attached together, used to infuse several different substances by means of iontophoresis while recording from a single neuron.

Front 33

What is microiontophoresis?

Back 33

A procedure that uses electricity to eject a chemical from a micropipette in order to determine the effects of the chemical on the electrical activity of a cell.

Front 34

What is in situ hybridization?

Back 34

The production of DNA complementary to a particular messenger RNA in order to detect the presence of RNA.

Front 35

What is double labeling?

Back 35

Labeling neurons in particular region by two different means; for example, by using an anterograde tracer and a label for a particular enzyme.