Neuroscience Research Methods: Structural, Functional, and Behavioral Analysis of the Brain

Neuropsychology

The scientific study of the relationships between brain function and behavior, primarily focusing on humans and the behavioral consequences of neurological injury.

Stereotaxic apparatus

A surgical instrument that allows the precise three-dimensional targeting of subcortical brain structures using coordinates relative to skull landmarks.

High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU)

A noninvasive neurosurgical technique that focuses acoustic energy to lesion or modulate deep brain tissue without opening the skull.

Compensation

The neuroplastic ability of the central nervous system to modify behavioral strategies to adapt following neural damage.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS)

A neurosurgical procedure involving the implantation of electrodes to deliver low-voltage electrical current to specific subcortical structures to modulate abnormal brain circuits.

Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)

A noninvasive method where a magnetic coil is placed over the scalp to induce electrical currents that excite or disrupt localized cortical activity.

Optogenetics

A transgenic technique combining molecular biology and light-sensitive proteins to control the electrical activity of targeted neurons using specific wavelengths of light.

Chemogenetics (DREADDs)

A technique using engineered G-protein-coupled receptors designed to respond selectively to synthetic, biologically inert small-molecule ligands.

GRAB technology

A method using genetically encoded, fluorescently tagged G-protein-coupled receptors to detect and track neurotransmitter release in real time with high spatiotemporal resolution.

Electroencephalography (EEG)

An electrophysiological monitoring technique that records the summed graded electrical potentials of thousands of cortical neurons via surface electrodes on the scalp.

Event-related potentials (ERPs)

Graded voltage fluctuations extracted by signal-averaging repeated electroencephalographic recordings time-locked to a specific sensory, motor, or cognitive stimulus.

Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

A noninvasive functional recording technique that measures magnetic fields generated by active neuronal populations, providing high temporal and three-dimensional spatial resolution.

Computed tomography (CT)

An anatomical structural imaging technique that combines series of X-ray views taken from multiple angles into cross-sectional images of the brain.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)

A noninvasive anatomical neuroimaging technique that aligns hydrogen protons using a strong magnetic field and measures radiofrequency radiation emitted when protons relax to their baseline states.

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI)

A specialized magnetic resonance technique that detects the directional diffusion of water molecules along myelin sheaths to map white matter fiber pathways.

Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)

An imaging method that exploits hydrogen proton signatures to determine the metabolic profiles and chemical concentrations of specific brain areas.

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)

A functional neuroimaging modality that monitors localized neural activity by measuring changes in blood oxygen levels (the blood-oxygen-level-dependent signal).

Default mode network (DMN)

An interconnected system of brain areas that remains active during wakeful rest, self-referential thought, and internal reflection, and deactivates during goal-directed cognitive tasks.

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)

An optical tomography method that quantifies cortical blood flow and hemodynamics by measuring differences in the absorption spectra of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin.

Positron emission tomography (PET)

A metabolic imaging technique where radioactive tracers are injected to detect blood flow changes, glucose metabolism, and receptor density via emitted gamma rays.

Microdialysis

An in vivo sampling method in which a cannula containing a semipermeable membrane collects chemicals from the extracellular fluid of freely moving animals via passive diffusion.

Cerebral voltammetry

An electrochemical technique where an implanted carbon fiber electrode applies a small electrical potential to measure extracellular neurotransmitter levels via oxidation-reduction currents.