Guide to Research Techniques in Neuroscience

Neuroscience is, by definition, a multidisciplinary field: some scientists study genes and proteins at the molecular level while others study neural circuitry using electrophysiology and high-resolution optics. A single topic can be studied using techniques from genetics, imaging, biochemistry, or electrophysiology. Therefore, it can be daunting for young scientists or anyone new to neuroscience to learn how to read the primary literature and develop their own experiments.

This volume addresses that gap, gathering multidisciplinary knowledge and providing tools for understanding the neuroscience techniques that are essential to the field, and allowing the reader to design experiments in a variety of neuroscience disciplines.

Written to provide a "hands-on" approach for graduate students, postdocs, or anyone new to the neurosciencesTechniques within one field are compared, allowing readers to select the best techniques for their own workIncludes key articles, books, and protocols for additional detailed studyData analysis boxes in each chapter help with data interpretation and offer guidelines on how best to represent resultsWalk-through boxes guide readers step-by-step through experiments

Chapter 1: Whole Brain Imaging 
Chapter 2: Animal Behavior
Chapter 3: Stereotaxic Surgeries and In vivo techniques
Chapter 4: Electrophysiology
Chapter 5: Microscopy
Chapter 6: Visualizing Nervous System Structure
Chapter 7: Visualizing Nervous System Function
Chapter 8: Manipulating Neural Activity 
Chapter 9: Identifying Genes and Proteins of Interest
Chapter 10: Molecular Cloning and Recombinant DNA Technology
Chapter 11: Gene Delivery Strategies
Chapter 12: Making and using transgenic organisms
Chapter 13: Manipulating endogenous genes
Chapter 14: Cell culture techniques
Chapter 15: Biochemical assays and intracellular signaling