PSYC 304 - Research Methods Exam Questions and Answers Graded A+
behavioral neuroscience research methods sequence (from behavior to genes) - Answers
behavior -> circuit/network -> synapse -> cellular molecule (mRNA/protein) -> gene (DNA)
circuit/network (2) - Answers anatomic structure (function)
anatomical connections
identifying anatomical structure in fixed brain \ - Answers microtome - "fixed brain" for
neuroscience research
2 methods of identifying anatomical structure - Answers Golgi stain and Nissl stain
golgi stain - Answers stain of a subset of all cells
include axon
morphology (study of formation in living organisms)
Nissl stain (cresyl violet stain) - Answers stain soma, not axon
cell number and distribution
immunohistochemsitry - Answers identify neuronal cell types based on enzymes involved in
synthesizing neurotransmitter
use antibodies to check for certain antigens in tissue samples
brainbow - Answers color-code (fluorescent protein) the individual neurons using genetic
approaches
identifying anatomical connections - Answers using dye to inject retrograde and anterograde
directions to see how neurons communicate with one another
tissue-clearing techniques - Answers eg: clarity - make structures clear (fluorescence
microscopy)
how to study function of brain region? - Answers association, necessity, sufficiency
measure of neuronal activity - Answers in vivo electrophysiological recording in free-moving
animals
n vivo electrophysiological recording in free-moving animals - Answers neuron is small
use very thin electrodes to directly measure neuronal activity/action potential (most common in
extracellular space-extracellular recording)
single cell: single unit recording; multi-cell: multi-unit recording
behavioral neuroscience research methods sequence (from behavior to genes) - Answers
behavior -> circuit/network -> synapse -> cellular molecule (mRNA/protein) -> gene (DNA)
circuit/network (2) - Answers anatomic structure (function)
anatomical connections
identifying anatomical structure in fixed brain \ - Answers microtome - "fixed brain" for
neuroscience research
2 methods of identifying anatomical structure - Answers Golgi stain and Nissl stain
golgi stain - Answers stain of a subset of all cells
include axon
morphology (study of formation in living organisms)
Nissl stain (cresyl violet stain) - Answers stain soma, not axon
cell number and distribution
immunohistochemsitry - Answers identify neuronal cell types based on enzymes involved in
synthesizing neurotransmitter
use antibodies to check for certain antigens in tissue samples
brainbow - Answers color-code (fluorescent protein) the individual neurons using genetic
approaches
identifying anatomical connections - Answers using dye to inject retrograde and anterograde
directions to see how neurons communicate with one another
tissue-clearing techniques - Answers eg: clarity - make structures clear (fluorescence
microscopy)
how to study function of brain region? - Answers association, necessity, sufficiency
measure of neuronal activity - Answers in vivo electrophysiological recording in free-moving
animals
n vivo electrophysiological recording in free-moving animals - Answers neuron is small
use very thin electrodes to directly measure neuronal activity/action potential (most common in
extracellular space-extracellular recording)
single cell: single unit recording; multi-cell: multi-unit recording
