Techniques in Physiological Psychology

  1. lesion and ablation techniques
    1. stereotaxic surgery
      1. the stereotaxic instrument
      2. the stereotaxic atlas
  2. neuroanatomical and neurochemical techniques
    1. histology
      1. perfusion and fixation
        1. flushing circulatory system with saline to remove blood - perfusion
        2. fixation with formalin - a solution of formaldehyde
      2. sectioning - the microtome
      3. staining
        1. cell body stains
        2. myelin stains
        3. membrane stains
    2. tracing neural connections
      1. anterograde labeling techniques
        1. amino acid autoradiography
        2. PHA-L
      2. retrograde labeling techniques
        1. horseradish peroxidase (HRP)
        2. fluorogold
    3. localization of neurochemicals
      1. immunocytochemistry
      2. autoradiography
      3. histofluorescence
    4. measuring metabolic activity
      1. 2-deoxyglucose (2-DG) autoradiography
      2. FOS protein
    5. studies of the living (human) brain
      1. CT (CAT) scan - computerized tomography
      2. MRI - magnetic resonance imaging (aka NMR)
      3. PET - positron emission tomography
      4. fMRI - functional MRI
    6. analyzing chemicals in the interstitial fluid (ECF)
      1. microdialysis
      2. voltammetry
  3. electrical recording
    1. EEG - electroencephalogram
    2. evoked potentials (EPs), aka event-related potentials (ERPs)
    3. microelectrodes
      1. wire
      2. glass (glass micropipette)
  4. chemical and electrical stimulation
    1. intracranial cannula
    2. microiontophoresis
    3. stereotaxically implanted electrodes
    4. surface of the exposed brain (i.e., Penfield's studies)

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