神经生物学

In experimentally amenable organism models, several different physiological techniques have been developed to functionally record the neuronal activity, with the goal to map the neuronal circuitry and elucidate the neural code underlying major neurophysiological functi ...

Methods to define circuit organization in the brain are largely based upon the axonal transport capabilities of neurons. Numerous tracers have been developed since the 1970s that are sequestered by neurons and transported through axons in either the anterograde or retrograde direct ...

Cerebral perfusion, the rate of blood delivery to brain tissue, plays an important role in tissue viability and brain function. The most commonly used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method to assess brain perfusion and tissue haemodynamics in clinical investigations is known as dynam ...

In the past decades, physiological research has progressively moved towards less invasive methods that could be used to study freely moving animals. In this chapter we describe the use of digital infrared thermography to detect changes in skin vasoconstriction, body temperature, brown ...

This chapter describes well-established procedures for multiple-labelling immunofluorescence as applied to peripheral neurons. Tissues are fixed with a mixture of formaldehyde and picric acid, and then processed through solvents (ethanol and dimethyl sulfoxide or xylene) ...

This protocol describes a procedure for combining non-radioactive in situ hybridization (ISH) histochemistry with multi-label fluorescence immunohistochemistry (IHC) on rat brain tissue sections. This allows visualization of multiple mRNA and protein targets located w ...

In situ hybridization (ISH) is a useful method to investigate de novo mRNA expression in tissue sections. The high specificity and sensitivity of this technique combined with the great preservation of tissue and cellular morphology conferred by fixatives such as 4% paraformaldehyde ma ...

Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Microscopy is a powerful application of fluorescence microscopy that allows selective imaging of fluorescent molecules that are either in or close to the plasma membrane of a cell. Thus, it is ideally suited to imaging the trafficking of molecules ...

The number of neurotransmitter receptors on the plasma membrane is regulated by the traffic of �intracellular vesicles. Golgi-derived vesicles provide newly synthesized receptors to the cell surface, whereas clathrin-coated vesicles are the initial vehicles for sequestrat ...

Neurons generate cell-type-specific action potential (AP) patterns as a result of the integration of synaptic inputs received from many other neurons. In neocortical pyramidal neurons, this AP output is not only transmitted to many other postsynaptic neurons, but also back-propaga ...

This chapter summarizes the extracellular recording and juxtacellular labeling method and its application to the characterization of cardiorespiratory brainstem neurons, although this technique could be applied to any neuron. The combination of this method with immunohis ...

Over the last 20 years, neuroscientists have become increasingly interested in two-photon microscopy. One of the reasons for this interest is that two-photon fluorescence excitation allows counterbalancing the deterioration of the optical signals due to light scattering, and th ...

Mitochondria are semi-autonomous organelles, which are central to cellular energy production and signal transduction. Given the tight integration between mitochondrial and cellular physiology, experimental strategies are required to study mitochondrial (dys)func ...

This chapter provides an overview of experimental approaches for acute and chronic social defeat in male mice and how to test for the behavioral consequences of social stress using the modified hole board. The first part refers to acute social defeat describing the classical resident/intr ...

The inhibition of feeding produced by novelty, termed “hyponeophagia,” provides a measure of anxiety-related behavior in rodents that is sensitive to the effects of multiple classes of anxiolytic and anxiogenic treatments and their time-course of action. This chapter provides deta ...

The light/dark test is based on the innate aversion of rodents to brightly illuminated areas and on the spontaneous exploratory behaviour of the animals, applying mild stressors, i.e. novel environment and light. The test apparatus consists of a small dark secure compartment (one-third) and a ...

Exposure to inescapable shock provokes behavioral disturbances in subsequent shock-escape tests, as well as in other behavioral paradigms, including those that reflect anhedonia. The interference induced by inescapable shock using a yoked (triadic) paradigm has frequently b ...

Dominant submissive relationship (DSR)-based models, one for antidepressant testing, the reduction of submissive behavior model (RSBM), and another for antimanic drug testing, the reduction of dominant behavior model (RDBM), were first established in rats. This chapter discuss ...

The lack of appropriate animal models for bipolar disorder (BPD) is a major factor hindering the research of  its pathophysiology and the development of new drug treatments. One approach for the development of better models for the disorder is to separately model a number of its critical behavio ...

The open field test (OFT) is a common measure of exploratory behavior and general activity in both mice and rats, where both the quality and quantity of the activity can be measured. Principally, the open field (OF) is an enclosure, generally square, rectangular, or circular in shape with surrounding ...