Laboratory Methods in Behavioral Neuroscience, NEUR 405
Fall 2015
Instructor:
Caroline Neely (cneely3@masonlive.gmu.edu)
Office phone: 703-993-5455
Class time: Friday 1:30 – 4:10 PM
Class location: Kransow 229; Krasnow Animal Facility
Office location: DK 2024
Office hours: Monday 12 – 1 PM
Course Description: The primary goal of this course is to provide advanced undergraduate
students with skills used in conducting behavioral neuroscience research. The course will
survey topics covering behavioral assays, histological techniques, data analysis, and
neuroethics. This course will focus on the use of rodents in behavioral neuroscience.
Specific skills learned will include the proper use and handling of research animals, how to
prepare an IACUC application, keeping a lab notebook, behavioral testing, surgery, euthanasia,
and tissue processing. Throughout the semester, students will work together in small teams to
compose an original research question and conduct experiments to address this question.
Project activities will include reviewing and critically analyzing existing literature on the topic,
choosing appropriate methods to address the research question, analyzing data generated, and
presenting the study findings in oral and written form.
RS Designated Courses
This class is designated as a Students as Scholars Research and Scholarship Intensive (RS)
course, which means that students are given the opportunity to actively participate in the
process of scholarship and will make a significant contribution to the creation of a disciplinaryappropriate project. To learn more about Students as Scholars, visit oscar.gmu.edu.
RS Student Learning Outcomes
In this RS course, students will:
 Create an original scholarly or creative project.
 Communicate knowledge from an original scholarly or creative project.
 Engage in scholarly inquiry by:
1.
Articulating and refining an original research question in behavioral neuroscience
2.
Gathering evidence (i.e., collecting data) appropriate to the question
3.
Applying appropriate scholarly conventions during the inquiry process.
Prerequisites: PSYC 300, BIOL 214, or equivalent statistics course; PYSC 376
Required Text: None
Required Readings: Available on Blackboard
Assignments:
 Completion of Required Training: In accordance with OSHA, NIH’s Office of Laboratory
Animal Welfare, and the National Research Council, students in this course are required to
complete the following two lab safety training courses: 1) Animal and Vivarium Safety and
2) Laboratory Safety Orientation. These courses are offered through the Environmental
Health and Safety Office (ehs.gmu.edu). EHS has kindly agreed to offer these two
courses to us IN CLASS. If you will be unable to attend then let me know ASAP. If
you cannot attend this training, then your grade may be in jeopardy as it is required
for participation in the lab each week.
The GMU Office of Research Integrity and Assurance also requires that students
complete on-line training in the use of animals in research provided by the Collaborative
Institutional Training Initiative (CITI). Information on how to sign up for the on-line training
courses will be provided via email. Completion of these training courses is mandatory
and accounts for 5% of the final grade.

Mock IACUC Application: Before starting any research project involving laboratory
animals, approval must be obtained by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
(IACUC). The IACUC ensures that university and national standards for the ethical care
and treatment of the research animals will be followed. The procedures used in this lab
course have already been approved by the IACUC. However, students will learn the
process of navigating the IACUC by completing a mock application. Students will work in
their research project teams, using a standard form to complete the application. Main
requirements of the application include a) justifying the need for using animals to conduct
the research, b) providing evidence that the research question is novel and has not been
addressed by previous research, and c) detailing all experimental procedures, including
plans for ensuring animal well-being and preventing and/or relieving pain and distress.
Guidance and input will be provided by the instructor. The mock IACUC application will
account for 10% of the final grade.

Reading Quizzes: Assigned readings will include lab protocols, textbook chapters, and
journal articles. These readings will be distributed via Blackboard and/or GMU email.
Successful and efficient labs depend on each of you coming to lab prepared. This means
that you have to complete the readings BEFORE you come to lab. In order to ensure that
all students are reading before class, short quizzes will be given at the beginning of each
lab session. Reading quizzes will count for a total of 10% of your grade.

Participation: Your grade in this course will include a participation score ranging from 0 –
60 points (0 – 5 per class meeting). A score of 5 points will be given to a student who
reports to lab on time, is prepared by having completed the readings ahead of time, is
properly dressed, and actively participates in all lab activities and class discussions. A
score below 5 points will be given to a student who does not fully demonstrate 100% effort
in a given lab session. This could include things like arriving late, being unprepared, not
having done the readings, not actively participating in lab activities and discussions,
disrupting other students, failing to cooperate, leaving lab before all the work (including
cleaning) is done, etc. The participation score will count for a total 10% of your final grade.

Lab Notebook: Maintaining a lab notebook according to guidelines provided by the
instructor will count for 10% of your grade. Someone unfamiliar with the lab procedures
should be able to look at your lab notebook and replicate the procedures that we
conducted during class. These notes may include, but are not limited to, lighting in the
room, time to perform a task, appropriate measurements for histology, and any abnormal
occurrences (e.g. light malfunction, computer malfunction, animal jumps off a maze), etc.

Lab Reports: The data collection for the research project will consist of a series of
experiments that will be conducted in class. These experiments will be conducted
following demonstration and practice of the appropriate task or technique by the instructor.
After each experiment, the student will complete a written lab report that will assess the
student’s knowledge of the performed procedures from classes prior. Some reports may
include SPSS questions that require the student to use GMU’s computer labs. Other
reports will include the objective of the experiment, the hypothesis tested, reporting of
results, and conclusions regarding the results. Together these reports will account for 25%
of the final grade.

Research Project: Students will work in small teams to design, conduct, and present an
original research project using behavioral neuroscience techniques covered in class.
Students will work together on this project throughout the semester, with specific due
dates for draft Introduction and Methods sections of the project. The project will be
presented in written form according to APA or Journal of Neuroscience guidelines
for writing a manuscript. Detailed information about this project, including the grading
rubric, will be distributed in class. The written research report will account for a total of
30% of your final grade.
Attendance and Makeup Policies:
 Attendance: Attendance will contribute to one’s grade in the form of participation.
Attendance at the EHS trainings will be mandatory as receiving this training will allow
you to work in the lab and with laboratory rodents. Arriving to class late and/or failing to
attend class will adversely affect your participation grade and will interfere with your
ability to complete the final research project. If you must miss a lab, arrive late, or leave
early please let your fellow team members and let us know in advance via e-mail. This
will ensure that you are aware of what is going on in class. You are, however,
responsible for all announcements and any syllabus changes that are made (whether or
not you are in attendance).
 Makeups: Lab space availability and class times are limited, and a large breadth of
material needs to be covered each week. Thus, lab activities cannot be made up
outside of class. Assignments cannot be postponed without penalty unless you have
written documentation.
If not otherwise specified, all assignments and lab reports must be submitted via
Blackboard links. Assignments that are not turned in BEFORE 1:30 PM on the due
date will receive an automatic 0.
Grades:
 Grade Breakdown:
Required Training (5%) + Lab Notebook (10%) + Mock IACUC Application (10%) +
Reading Quizzes (10%) + Lab Participation (10%) + Lab Reports (25%) + Written
Research Project (30%) = 100%

 Grading Scale:
A+ 97% & above
B+ 87 – 89% C+ 77 – 79%
D 60 – 69%
A 93 – 96%
B 83 – 86% C 73 – 76%
F 59% & lower
A- 90 – 92%
B- 80 – 82% C- 70 – 72%
Official Communications via GMU E-mail: Mason uses electronic mail to provide official
information to students. Examples include communications from course instructors, notices from
the library, notices about academic standing, financial aid information, class materials,
assignments, questions, and instructor feedback. Students are responsible for the content of
university communication sent to their Mason email account, and are required to activate that
account and check it regularly. Students will be notified through their email if class is cancelled
and if a make-up class will be scheduled.
Technology Statement: Required knowledge of technology for this course includes the ability
to retrieve handouts and notes sent to your GMU e-mail address or those uploaded to
Blackboard (mymasonportal.gmu.edu). Students will be required to use SPSS which is installed
on most GMU computers. There are computers available in the Johnson Center Room 342 and
Innovation Hall Room 301. Students can also access SPSS from their home computer using
GMU’s Virtual Computer Lab (Mac users are not able to use this function as of Fall 2014).
Students will also be using ImageJ, a software program created by the NIH which can be
downloaded for free for both Mac and PC users.
Students with Disabilities: If you are a student with a disability and you need academic
accommodations please see us and contact the Disability Resource Center (DRC) at 703-9932474. All academic accommodations must be arranged through the DRC.
Please note that this course involves working with rodents (rats and mice) as well as
potential carcinogenic/teratogenic chemicals that are used in histology and western
blotting. If you have a concern about this, please contact me/meet with me as soon as
possible.
The GMU Honor Code will be Strictly Enforced: Cheating and plagiarism will not be
tolerated and will be reported to the University Honor Board and penalized. Information that is
used from an outside source must be cited in correct APA/JNeuro format. I reserve the right to
enter a failing grade for any student found guilty of an honor code violation.
Add/Drop Deadlines:
 Last day to add: September 8th
 Last day to drop (no tuition penalty): September 8th
 Last day to drop (33% tuition penalty): September 15th
 Last day to drop (66% tuition penalty): October 2nd
Tentative Schedule:
Date:
September 4th
Class Topic:
EHS Training (in class)
Objectives:
EHS certification
(MANDATORY)
Readings/Assignments Due:
Get composition notebook by next class
September 11th
Neuroethics
Project idea brainstorming
Basic Research
Designs and overview
of behavioral tests
Group formation
Quiz on reading:
 Festing & Altman, 2002
 CITI training certificates due
Validity & Reliability of
behavioral testing
September 18th
Project formation &
IACUC application
Hypothesis testing
SPSS and data
analysis
Meet in computer lab!
Mock data analysis
Quiz on reading:
 Harrington, 2011
 Read through Caroline’s SPSS
tutorial (won’t be on quiz)
September 25th
Rodent behavior I:
Handling and colony
maintenance
Handling and scruffing
Cage assignments
Basic colony upkeep
October 9th
October 16th
October 23rd
Rodent behavior II:
Anxiety & depressive
behaviors
Elevated zero maze
Forced-swim test
No class – Society for Neuroscience Conference
Quiz on readings:
 Costa et al., 2012
 Cloutier et al., 2012
 Lab Report 1 (SPSS)
 Rough draft of IACUC application due
Quiz on readings:
 Castagne et al., 2011
 Walf & Frye, 2007
 Mock IACUC application due
Lab Report 2 (Anxiety/Depression)
Rodent behavior III:
Prosocial behaviors
and activities of daily
living
Three-chamber sociability
apparatus
October 30th
Rodent behavior IV
Learning and memory (Morris
Water Maze; Fear Conditioning)
Quiz on reading:
 Vorhees & Williams, 2006
 Lab Report 3 (Prosocial/ADL)
November 6th
Histology
Brain extractions
Perfusion
Staining
Quiz on readings:
 Holson, 1992
 Histological techniques PDF
 Lab Report 4 (Learning & Memory)
 Rough draft of manuscript methods
due
November 13th
Western Blotting I
Protein Quantification
November 20th
Western Blotting II
Circadian rhythms
Gel electrophoresis and
membrane transfer; nonspecific
blocking and primary incubation
Washes, secondary incubation
at room temp
Quiz on readings:
 Kaideanovich-Beilin et al., 2011
 Siepka & Takahashi, 2005
 Rough draft of manuscript intro due

Lab Report 5 (Histology)

Resubmission of rough draft of intro &
methods for manuscript; can have
working discussion prepared

Lab Report 6 (Western Blotting)
Developing substrate
Imaging & band quantification
No class – Thanksgiving
November 27th
December 4th
Testing
Class time dedicated to student
projects
All behavioral testing MUST be
completed by the end of this class period
December 11th
Manuscript Writing &
Preparation
Short class for preparing your
manuscript for “submission”
Quiz on reading:
 Kallestinova, 2011
 Raw data (SPSS/.sav or Excel/.xlxs
format ONLY)
Final manuscript due 1:30 PM
December 18th
No class