PSYB55H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 3.7: Transcranial Direct-Current Stimulation, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, Gene Knockout
Document Summary
In the knockout species, species genes are altered or eliminated. Knockout procedures can be used to study behavioural changes occurring in animals that have developed w/o the targeted gene, or to observe how genes code the development of the nervous system. Brain function can be perturbed by drugs, magnetic or electrical stimulation, and thru genetic manipulations. A major drawback of drug studies, in which the drug is injected into the bloodstream, is the lack of specificity. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (tms) uses magnetic pulses to transiently (for a brief time) alter local brain physiology. Gene knockout technology allows scientists to explore the consequences of the lack of expression of a specific gene in order to determine its role in behaviour. Structural analysis of the brain: computed tomography (ct or cat scanning) is a non-invasive neuroimaging method that provides images of internal structures like the brain. Ct is an advanced version of the conventional x-ray.
