Animal Research
- Research conducted using non-human animals to investigate biological, psychological, or behavioral phenomena.
- Animal research is often used when human studies are impractical, unethical, or require controlled environments.
Key Features of Animal Research
- Ethical Considerations: Animal research is subject to ethical guidelines that aim to minimize harm and ensure humane treatment.
- Controlled Environments: Animal research allows for highly controlled environments, enabling researchers to manipulate variables and establish causal relationships.
- Generalizability: Findings from animal research are often used to inform understanding of human behavior, but differences between species can limit generalizability.
The 3 Rs of Animal Research
The British Society of Animal Science established ethical guidelines that should be followed when undertaking animal research.
- Refinement: Research should be focused and have realistic achievements. Avoidance of harm is also necessary.
- Replacement: Use alternatives to animal models whenever possible.
- Reduction: Use the fewest amount of animals required to gather meaningful results.
Key Features of Animal Models
- Biological Similarity: Animal models are chosen based on their biological similarity to humans. For example, rodents are often used to study brain function because their nervous systems share similarities with humans.
- Genetic Manipulation: Animal models can be genetically modified to study specific genes or conditions. For example, transgenic mice are used to model human diseases like Alzheimer's.
- Behavioral Studies: Animal models are used to study behaviors that are difficult to investigate in humans, such as aggression or addiction.
- Quick life cycle: Animal models breed and age faster than humans do, facilitating research on heredity and genetics.
Key Study
Case studyMartinez & Kesner (1991)
Aim: to see what role acetylcholine (ACh) played in spatial memory
Method: injected rats with 3 types of injections:
- scopolamine, an antagonist of ACh
- physostigmine, an agonist of ACh
- placebo
These rats completed a maze after being injected with the
Findings: rats injected with scopolamine made more mistakes, whereas rats with physostigmine made fewer mistakes
Conclusion: ACh is a neurotransmitter that boosts spatial memory
