Current Laboratory Methods in Neuroscience Research

Current Laboratory Methods in Neuroscience Research is a research manual for both students and seasoned researchers. It focuses on commonly-used techniques employed in neuroscience research, presented in a simple, step-by-step manner for laboratory use. The manual also offers a “blueprint” for  bench-to-bedside research designed to facilitate multidisciplinary neuroscience pursuits. Sections include coverage of neurohistological techniques, in vitro preparations, leukocyte isolation and application in neuroscience, standard laboratory nucleic acid and protein detections, nanomedicine, bioimaging, neuroelectrophysiology, immunohistochemistry and autoradiography, analysis of gene expression, and animal models.

Section 1: Neurohistological techniques.- 1. Brain tissue preparation, sectioning and staining.- 2. Brain stereotactic injections.- 3. Tract tracing at light and electron microscopy.- 4. Stereological analysis of neurological tissues.- Section 2: In vitro preparations.- 5. Preparation and use of rodent hippocampal brain slices.- 6.  Single-Cell Neuronal Dissociation For Electrophysiological Studies.- 7. Isolation and Culture of Human Neurons, Microglia and Astrocytes.- 8. Isolation and Culture of Neural Stem/progenitor Cells.- 9. Isolation of mitochondria from brain tissue and cells.- 10. Isolation of synaptosomes from archived brain tissues.- 11. Xenopus oocytes isolation and microinjection.- Section 3: Leukocyte isolation and application in neuroscience.- 12. Centrifugal elutriation for studies of neuroimmunity.- 13. Flow cytometry in neuroscience research.- Section 4: Standard Laboratory Nucleic Acid and Protein Detections.- 14. Western Blotting Technique in Biomedical Research.- 15. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Real-time RT PCR.- Section 5: Nanomedicine.- 16. Nanoformulations.- 17. Neuronanomedicine.- Section 6: Bioimaging.- 18. Confocal imaging of nerve cells.- 19. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).- 20. X-Ray, Positron Emission, and Single Photon Emission Tomographic Bioimaging.- 21. Non-Invasive Neurophysiological Imaging with Magnetoencephalography.- 22. Multiphoton Brain Imaging.- Section 7: Neuroelectrophysiology.- 23. Techniques for Extracellular Recordings.- 24. “Blind” patch-clamp recordings from rodent hippocampal slices.- 25. Whole-cell patch clamp recordings.- Section 8: Immunohistochemistry and autoradiography.- 26. Analysis of Receptor Binding And Quantitative Autoradiography.- 27. Techniques in Immunohistochemistry and immunocytochemistry.- Section 9: Analysis of Gene Expression.- 28. Protein identification by mass spectrometry: Proteomics.- 29. DNA Microarrays as a Tool for Neurosciences Research.- 30. Metabolomics .- 31.Bioinformatic Methods and Resources for Neuroscience Research.- Section 10: Animal Models: Behavior and Pathology.- 32. Motor function in rodent models of neurodegenerative disorders.- 33. Humanized mice.- 34. Animal models for PD and ALS.- 35. Animal models for Alzheimer’s Disease.- 36. Animal Models: Behavior and Pathology.