RESEARCH METHODS (6)

Question 2

What are seminatural learning paradigms?

Answer 2

Animal learning paradigms designed to mimic situations an animal might encounter in the wild. They focus on learning that benefits survival and reflects innate neural mechanisms.

Question 3

What is a conditioned taste aversion?

Answer 3

An avoidance response to a food whose consumption has been followed by illness. Rats learn to avoid the taste after one trial, showing survival-adaptive learning.

Question 4

What principles of traditional learning does conditioned taste aversion challenge?

Answer 4

1) Learning can occur in a single trial.
2) Temporal contiguity is not essential—learning occurs even hours after eating.
3) Equipotentiality—rats more easily learn taste-illness associations than color-illness or taste-shock associations.

Question 5

How is conditioned taste aversion relevant to humans?

Answer 5

Humans can develop aversions to foods eaten before nausea-inducing events, such as chemotherapy.

Question 6

What is the radial arm maze used for?

Answer 6

To study rodents’ spatial abilities, including memory for locations of food and avoidance of revisited empty arms.

Question 7

How does the radial arm maze test spatial learning?

Answer 7

Rats must navigate identical arms using external room cues, remember which arms are baited, and avoid revisiting arms already stripped of food.

Question 8

What is the Morris water maze?

Answer 8

A circular pool where rats swim to find a hidden platform using spatial cues. Tests navigation and spatial memory.

Question 9

How does the Morris water maze differ from the radial arm maze?

Answer 9

In the Morris water maze, starting points vary each trial, forcing rats to use spatial cues in the room to locate the invisible platform.

Question 10

What is conditioned defensive burying?

Answer 10

A seminatural paradigm where rats learn to bury a threatening object (shock, air blast, noxious odor) with bedding after a single trial.

Question 11

How is conditioned defensive burying used in research?

Answer 11

To study anxiety and its neurochemistry. Antianxiety drugs reduce the amount of defensive burying.

Question 12

How does fMRI work?

Answer 12

fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) measures brain activity by detecting changes in blood oxygenation and flow that occur in response to neural activity. When a brain area is active, it consumes more oxygen, and fMRI detects the difference between oxygenated and deoxygenated blood.

Question 13

Explain what is being recorded in an electroencephalogram (EEG).

Answer 13

EEG records the electrical activity of the brain via electrodes placed on the scalp. It captures synchronous firing of large groups of neurons, mainly in the cortex, and is useful for studying brain rhythms, seizures, and sleep patterns.

Question 14

How does stereotactic surgery work?

Answer 14

Stereotactic surgery uses a 3D coordinate system to locate precise areas within the brain. Once located, electrodes, cannulas, or other instruments can be inserted accurately to stimulate, lesion, or record from a targeted region.

Question 15

Which research technique uses X-rays?

Answer 15

CT scan (Computed Tomography) uses X-rays to create detailed images of the brain’s structure. X-rays pass through the head from multiple angles, and a computer reconstructs cross-sectional images of brain tissue.

Question 16

Describe research techniques for testing language comprehension and lateralization.

Answer 16

Sodium amytal (Wada) test: An anesthetic is injected into one carotid artery to temporarily deactivate one hemisphere. Language function is assessed to determine dominant hemisphere.

Dichotic listening test: Different auditory stimuli are presented simultaneously to each ear. The ear that reports more stimuli corresponds to the contralateral hemisphere dominance for language.

Question 17

Differences between a Nissl stain and a Golgi stain:

Answer 17

The Nissl stain and Golgi stain differ in what they highlight and their purposes.
* A Nissl stain primarily stains cell bodies, specifically the rough endoplasmic reticulum (Nissl substance), making it useful for counting neurons and assessing cell structure.
* In contrast, a Golgi stain highlights entire neurons, including the dendrites and axons, allowing researchers to study the detailed morphology of individual neurons.
* While Nissl stains reveal clusters of cell bodies, Golgi stains reveal the full shape of a few neurons in their entirety.