Deck 4: Methods of Research in Psychopharmacology

Question 1

The greatest advantage of using animals over human subjects in psychopharmacological research is that

A) assessing emotional and psychological changes in response to experimental manipulations is relatively straightforward in nonhuman subjects.
B) living conditions, such as stress level, diet, exercise, etc. can be precisely controlled.
C) animals are much less likely to express stress in test conditions.
D) animals recover much more quickly from drug experiments.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is a limitation to studying fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) in human subjects?

A) There are not enough cases to study.
B) The studies are correlational only; one cannot assert that alcohol causes any particular effect.
C) There is very little evidence for FAS in children born to women in the United States.
D) It is impossible to obtain permission to conduct this type of research.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The Health Extension Act of 1985 states that

A) when using animals in experiments, researchers must avoid or minimize discomfort, distress, and pain.
B) animals may not be used in research.
C) computer simulation instead of animal experimentation is prohibited.
D) only rodents may be used in animal experiments.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Why might it be more difficult to attain high face validity in animal tests of a drug intended to treat a mood disorder as opposed one intended to treat high blood pressure?

A) The animal brain is so different from the human brain that results aren't transferable for mood disorders.
B) Mood disorders have symptoms that are not easy to quantify in animal subjects, such as feeling of depression or guilt.
C) Animals do not experience mood disorders in ways that humans do.
D) It is very difficult to create the proper dose of psychopharmacological drug for animals that can then be adjusted for use in humans.

Question 5

A well-designed behavioral pharmacology study would include an experimental treatment group that is compared to a(n) _______ group.

A) placebo
B) nocebo
C) pre-trial
D) affected

Question 6

A horticulturist is trying to produce a new fertilizer that creates larger rose flowers. In her experiment she treats 10 plants with no fertilizer, 10 plants with a fertilizer already known to increase the size of rose flowers, and 10 plants with the new fertilizer she is testing. The plants with no fertilizer are the _______ group, the plants with the known fertilizer are the _______ group, and the plants treated with the new fertilizer are the _______ group.

A) negative; treatment; positive
B) positive; negative; treatment
C) negative; positive; treatment
D) treatment; negative; positive

Question 7

Good behavioral tests for drug effects should meet a variety of criteria. Which of the following is not one of these criteria?

A) They should be specific for the drug class being screened.
B) They should have high face validity.
C) They should be reliable.
D) They should be sensitive and show the same rank order of potency as seen in therapeutic action.

Question 8

Which statement about translational research is true?

A) It involves the transfer of discoveries from basic science research into clinical applications.
B) It was developed within the last decade.
C) It involves development of different tasks and methods for animals and humans to better understand differences among them.
D) It seeks to develop drugs in the treatment of both human and nonhuman animals' neurological disorders.

Question 9

The _______ is a test of analgesia.

A) open field test
B) catalepsy test
C) tail-flick test
D) multiple T-maze

Question 10

Which behavioral test is used to measure anxiety?

A) Morris water maze
B) T-maze
C) Light-dark crossing task
D) Delayed-response test

Question 11

Which behavioral test is paired correctly with what it is designed to measure?

A) Delayed-response test: anxiety
B) Conditioned place preference: reward
C) Elevated plus-maze: navigational ability
D) Conditioned emotional response: frustration

Question 12

Animals will self-administer

A) antidepressants.
B) antipsychotics.
C) nicotine.
D) marijuana.

Question 13

Drug discrimination testing provides a way to observe

A) how an organism experiences a drug.
B) drug-induced euphoria.
C) the motor effects of a new therapeutic agent.
D) the breakpoint for a given drug.

Question 14

In drug discrimination studies, which agent will produce the same lever-press response as that produced by training with morphine?

A) Amphetamine
B) Saline
C) Methadone
D) Marijuana

Question 15

A researcher is interested in systematically analyzing and quantifying the subtle patterns/paths of a rat's movements after injection of a drug as precisely as possible. Which technology would this researcher choose?

A) CRISPR
B) Computer vision generated algorithms
C) Magnetic resonance spectroscopy
D) Computerized tomography

Question 16

In drug development and testing,

A) animal testing occurs in phase I.
B) the FDA reviews a new drug application after phase 3 clinical trials are complete.
C) about 80% of drugs make it through to final approval.
D) generic versions of a drug can be made 10 years after a drug is patented.

Question 17

Surgery using the stereotaxic apparatus

A) is an in vitro procedure.
B) can be used for the purpose of lesioning, microinjection, or recording.
C) is 100% reliable in placement of the electrode at the target site.
D) is no longer performed on small animals; it has been replaced by use of the halo bracket device.

Question 18

Stereotaxic surgery requires the knowledge (intersection) of _______ coordinate(s) in order to target a particular brain area.

A) one
B) two
C) three
D) four

Question 19

The halo bracket is used for brain surgery on

A) mice.
B) humans.
C) rats.
D) cats.

Question 20

How do researchers know the proper location to place electrodes or a cannula in the brains of animals?

A) They use an atlas and landmarks on the animal's skull.
B) They use a trial and error process based on their own prior studies.
C) They guide an electrode with information from MRI or CT scans.
D) The electrode is stimulated as it is moved until the expected response is found.

Question 21

Why is a neurotoxin lesion preferred over an electrolytic lesion?

A) It is less painful to animals than the electrolytic lesion.
B) It is easier to perform than the electrolytic lesion.
C) It is more selective than the electrolytic lesion because it destroys cell bodies only.
D) It has a stronger, more easily detected behavioral effect than the electrolytic lesion.

Question 22

If a researcher wanted to disrupt a specific dopamine pathway, which method would be most effective?

A) Electrolytic lesion
B) Administration of kainic acid
C) Administration of ibotenic acid
D) Administration of neurotoxin 6-OHDA

Question 23

In microdialysis,

A) an animal is placed in a stereotaxic apparatus while measurements are taken.
B) large quantities of fluid must be collected for HPLC analysis.
C) analysis of the contents of the extracellular fluid can be made.
D) chromatography separates substances only by ionic charge, and not by size.

Question 24

Which method uses microelectrodes to record the activity of neurochemicals in the extracellular fluid of freely moving animals?

A) Microdialysis
B) In vivo voltammetry
C) Stereotaxic surgery
D) Patch clamp electrophysiology

Question 25

Macroelectrodes are used to

A) quantify receptor number and activation.
B) investigate connectivity among brain regions when an individual is awake but not involved in a task.
C) evaluate metabolic activity in Parkinson's disease.
D) activate cells of the brain to see how the stimulation affects the behavior of an animal.

Question 26

Which statement about single-unit recording is false?

A) It uses microelectrodes.
B) It can involve intracellular recording.
C) The test animal must be anesthetized in all cases.
D) The electrode is sometimes placed in the extracellular fluid.

Question 27

A technique that permits researchers to study the function of individual ion channels that are responsible for the action potential is

A) in vivo voltammetry.
B) patch clamp electrophysiology.
C) intracellular recording.
D) extracellular recording.

Question 28

With respect to identification of the location and quantity of neurochemicals in the brain,

A) if location is the primary goal, then the brain slice method is preferred.
B) if quantification is the main concern, researchers are most likely to preserve the intact tissue and prepare it with autoradiography.
C) the "soup" approach is most often used for localization of receptors.
D) radioligand binding works better for the "slice" method than the "soup" method.

Question 29

Which of the following is not part of the procedure and/or interpretation of radioligand binding?

A) Tissue is incubated with radioligand.
B) Specificity is measured by adding radioactive competing ligand.
C) Saturability is measured by adding increasing amounts of ligand.
D) Reversibility is measured by showing displacement of ligand by drug.

Question 30

In radioligand binding studies, _______ represents the number of binding sites and _______ is an indication of receptor affinity.

A) B_max; k₁
B) k_-1; K_d
C) k₁; k_-1
D) B_max; K_d

Question 31

Which statement regarding receptor autoradiography is true?

A) It requires the use of ground tissue samples.
B) It tells the researcher about the affinity of receptors for a particular drug in a certain region of the brain.
C) It does not make use of radioligand binding
D) It cannot be used when the receptor binding has occurred in vivo.

Question 32

Neuropharmacologists are interested in enzymes for a variety of reasons. Which of the following is not one of the reasons?

A) Enzymes can be identified with techniques such as receptor autoradiography.
B) Enzymes are used to synthesize and metabolize neurotransmitters.
C) Enzymes regulate the levels of second messengers, such as cyclic AMP.
D) Enzymes play a role in complex events, such as drug tolerance.

Question 33

In immunocytochemistry,

A) tissue slices are cut and incubated with antigen in solution.
B) the antibody response is not very selective because it recognizes a class of similar proteins.
C) antibodies must initially be tested by injecting them into host animals.
D) cells making the neuropeptide hypocretin can be visualized via creating tagged antibodies to the neuropeptide.

Question 34

Which procedure would be used for quantifying molecules in various body fluids and tissue extracts from unknown samples?

A) Immunocytochemistry
B) In situ hybridization
C) Radioimmunoassay
D) Autoradiography

Question 35

Researchers use 2-DG autoradiography to

A) identify regions of the brain with high metabolic activity.
B) locate c-fos expression in the brain.
C) identify the presence of objects of different densities in the brain, such as a tumor.
D) provide three-dimensional images of the brain.

Question 36

Researchers who want to stain for cells that are actively expressing proteins would use

A) 2-DG autoradiography.
B) in vivo voltammetry.
C) c-fos identification with ICC.
D) computerized tomography.

Question 37

In situ hybridization (ISH) is used

A) for antibody labeling of proteins.
B) for detection of messenger RNA molecules.
C) to determine location and quantification of receptors.
D) to measure second-messenger activity.

Question 38

Which statement about in situ hybridization is false?

A) It is a very sensitive procedure in terms of its ability to detect mRNA.
B) Tissue homogenate, as in the Northern blot or dot blot methods, can be used.
C) It is used for global, but not regional, changes in mRNA over time.
D) A probe of complementary base-pair sequences to the mRNA of interest is used.

Question 39

DNA microarrays are used to

A) quantify neurochemicals in the brain.
B) aid in identification of the genes that switch on and off together in response to drugs and diseases.
C) measure the metabolic activity of the brain.
D) locate molecules within cells via antibody tagging.

Question 40

If a neurologist seeks to determine an actual protein being expressed at a given time in the brain, she would choose _______ technology over _______ technology.

A) DNA microarray; RNA-seq
B) RNA-seq; DNA microarray
C) in situ hybridization; RNA-seq
D) in situ hybridization; immunosorbent assay

Question 41

If you wanted precisely detect the change in mRNA levels responsible for directing the manufacture of a particular protein in a section of the rat brain after treatment with a drug, which technique would you use?

A) Functional MRI
B) In situ hybridization (ISH)
C) Computerized tomography
D) SPECT

Question 42

The CT scan

A) provides a dynamic picture of the human brain.
B) has better resolution than the MRI scan.
C) requires that subjects be injected with a radioactively labeled substance.
D) is based on a series of reconstructed X rays of the brain.

Question 43

One major advantage of the MRI scan is that

A) it provides all the information that is needed in one slice.
B) the images it provides offer incredible detail of the brain.
C) it can show changes in brain activity over time.
D) it can be used in conjunction with cognitive and behavioral tasks.

Question 44

If you wanted to determine which part of the brain is active while a person is solving a specific task, such as navigating or completing a puzzle, the technique you would choose is

A) 2-deoxyglucose autoradiography.
B) diffusion tensor imaging (DTI).
C) positron emission tomography (PET).
D) electroencephalography (EEG).

Question 45

Which of the following is not a reason that functional MRI (fMRI) is preferred over PET imaging?

A) The detail is far superior in functional MRI.
B) The fMRI procedure provides both anatomical and functional information.
C) The individual does not need to be injected with a radioactive substance for functional MRI.
D) Because fMRI is a newer procedure, it has replaced the need for other techniques, such as PET and EEG.

Question 46

Electroencephalography

A) is an invasive method for measuring brain activity.
B) measures action potentials from neurons.
C) is often used to record event-related potentials (ERPs).
D) can identify whether specific cells are active during sleep or waking.

Question 47

One reason that scientists are cautious about interpreting the findings from studies using transgenic mice is that

A) genetically modifying an animal may trigger other, nontarget gene changes.
B) complex behaviors and disorders are not controlled by single genes.
C) a change in only one gene does not provide a great deal of useful information.
D) The process of creating transgenic mice is very costly and time-consuming.

Question 48

In one study, mice that were genetically engineered to express R6/2 (the Huntington's disease gene) exhibited motor disturbances that _______ and these mice also showed _______.

A) improved over time; enhanced cognitive function
B) were present from birth onward; a tendency to develop diabetes
C) worsened over time; a shortened life span
D) disappeared with practice; spatial learning deficits

Question 49

A _______ mouse is a one whose genome has a specific mutation that allows a researcher to study the subsequent altered brain function and behavior.

A) knockout
B) transgenic
C) cloned
D) chimeric

Question 50

When optogenetics is used to insert channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) in a neuron, activating this protein with light will produce an _______ of _______ ions.

A) efflux; chloride
B) influx; chloride
C) efflux; sodium
D) influx; sodium

Question 51

List three advantages that animal studies have over human studies.

Question 52

Identify the three aspects of the Health Extension Act of 1985 that exist to provide some protections for animals in research.

Question 53

Explain what is meant by face, predictive, and construct validity. Which is most important for the development of clinically useful medications?

Question 54

Explain how genetic manipulations, brain lesions, and parallel tasks are important for translational research. Make sure to explain what translational research is.

Question 55

Describe the defensive burying task protocol and what it is designed to measure.

Question 56

Identify several common behavioral measures of learning/memory and emotions.

Question 57

Describe one of the operant conditioning paradigms that are often used to study the effects of drugs on the nervous system. What does the breakpoint signify in self-administration procedures?

Question 58

Explain how drug discrimination training works and why it is useful. Include specific examples in your answer.

Question 59

Describe how the procedure of stereotaxic surgery is used for the purpose of producing lesions. Compare the benefits and drawbacks of using electrolytic and neurotoxic lesions.

Question 60

What type of activity is measured by macroelectrodes, microelectrodes, and patch clamp electrophysiology? Provide one clinical application and one research application of the use of macroelectrodes.

Question 61

Describe the procedure of microdialysis, list its advantages, and provide an example of how it might be used to study the nervous system.

Question 62

Name and describe three methods that are used to visualize the quantity and location of receptors in the brain.

Question 63

Identify and describe the criteria that must be met if we are to assume that the radioligand is, in fact, binding to the target receptors.

Question 64

What does in situ hybridization (ISH) measure? Why would a researcher choose this method as opposed to a procedure like immunocytochemistry (ICC)?

Question 65

List the two human brain imaging techniques that provide a static picture of the brain, and two techniques that can determine the amount of activity in different brain areas.

Question 66

Provide two examples of how genetic engineering has helped neuroscientists understand more about the role of genes, receptors, and peptides.

Question 67

What is CRISPR technology? What are its potential negative effects and risks? What event in 2018 sparked the debate on the use of CRISPR in editing the human genome?