Animal Models & The Brain
Animals are used to study localisation of function by removing parts of the brain. What is this process called?
e.g. they remove the amygdala from monkeys to study aggression or the hippocampus to study memory.
What are two hormones commonly studied in animals?
testosterone
cortisol
oxytocin
melatonin
What is a "knockout mouse?"
A mouse that has had a specific gene "turned off" (which means it doesn't send signals from the cell.)
Animal studies might not be able to be applied to humans. This is an issue of ......bility?
Generalizability
How many credits is the exam and how long is it? (Same number)
3
What early study investigated the effects of the environment on neuroplasticity?
Rosenzweig and Bennett's study where they put some rats in a deprived environment and others in an enriched one.
What correlation did Sapolsky find in his baboon study?
Higher status = lower levels of cortisol (lower stress) (Negative correlation)
What are two tests used to measure depression in mice?
Tail suspension test
Forced swim test
What are two ethical considerations relevant to using animals in experimentation?
- Justification
- Animal welfare
- can't consent
- no right to withdraw
Along with animal studies, what is another issue you could study for the exam as a back-up?
Studies on kids
Gender bias
Socially sensitive research
Cultural bias
Ablating (removing entirely) parts of the brain is one way of studying localisation of function. Another way is to damage the neurons but not remove parts of the brain. What's this process called?
Lesioning
What were two findings from Albert et al.'s rat catration study on aggression?
- Castration reduced aggression in alpha males
- Replacing testosterone restored aggression
- Castrated alphas lost their alpha position
What is the most common test used to measure aggression in mice and rats?
The resident intruder test
What's it called when animals are humanely killed to put an end to their suffering?
Euthanizing
You can gain the three credits but "explaining the issue" of using animal studies. What three things should you do to fully explain this issue?
1. State the issue
2. Summarise how and why animals are
used in studies and why this
has ethical problems (2-3
sentences)
3. Counter-argument (1-2
sentences)(e.g. pros of animal studies).
What are two neurological phenomena (brain things) that animals are commonly used to study?
Localisation of function
Neuroplasticity
What are the three Rs of animal research?
Replace
Reduce
Refine
What are three arguments FOR the use of animals in clinical psychology research?
- Can help find treatments and/or cures for human disorders
- Animals are well-taken care of in the lab cages
- Rodents are killed as pests everyday, at least these rodents are being put to good use
- Animals are bred for food (e.g. McDonalds and KFC), so why not breed them for research?
- Other to be approved by Mr Dixon
What are the two major strengths of using animal models to understand human behaviour?
1) Variables can be manipulated in a way that would be ethically or practically impossible to do on humans (e.g. brain lesioning)
2) Researchers can conduct tightly controlled experiments to draw cause-effect relationships (e.g. keeping living environments consistent in studies on the effects of brain damage).
3) Genetics/physiological similarities, life span, number of animals available.
What are the four questions you'll be asked in the exam?
1. What’s the issue?
2. How’s it shown in
psychological practice?
(studies and theories)
3. What’s your opinion?
4. How can it be addressed?
What were three specific findings from Rosenzweig and Bennett's experiments regarding synapses, receptors and % brain weight growth?
Synapses increased 20%
More acetylcholine receptors
Brain increased in weight 7-10%
More neural connections
What is the most common research method used in animal studies on the effects of hormones?
Laboratory experiment (one group has the hormone and the other doesn't)
Name five common animal models used to test psychological disorders.
Anxiety: Elevated plus maze (EPM) test
Depression: Forced swim test, tail suspension test or learned helplessness paradigm
Aggression: Resident intruder test
PTSD: Single prolonged stress (SPS) model
Addiction: Operant and non-operant drug self-administration
What are two reasons why findings in animal studies on aggression might not generalize to humans?
Culture: we have more sophisticated cultures that teach us values, that in turn influence our thinking and decision making in situations involving aggression.
Cognition: we have more sophisticated thought processes that allow us to inhibit our biological impulses.
Both of the above mean that a simple change in biology isn't guaranteed to change our behaviour as they can be moderators of the relationship between biology and behaviour.
What year was Mr Dixon born?
1983