Behavioral Neuroscience: Foundations of Compulsive Behaviors (edX)

- Understand how to handle laboratory mice responsibly according to federal law by completing Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) training.

- Understand how research on animals must be scientifically justified, humane and ethical, and provide new knowledge.

- Collect behavioral data from mouse videos from compulsive-like, non-compulsive-like, and randomly bred mouse strains; a mouse model of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).

- Obtain competency in using behavioral tests to measure compulsions in laboratory mice.

Establish a foundation in using behavioral tests in laboratory mice to be able to confidently learn how to use new tests.

- Develop an ability to analyze behavioral data.

- Develop an ability to interpret and discuss results in the context of human psychiatric disorders and the mouse model of OCD.

- Obtain a competency in describing key characteristics of OCD in humans and compulsions in animal models.

- Develop a capability to formulate original research hypotheses.

- Obtain a competency in describing and discussing how basic research contributes to the animal model of OCD and how it may have the potential to contribute to improving the human condition.

- Learners who join this course should be free of objections to using mice in research.

This course is part of the Behavioral Neuroscience Research Professional Certificate.

What you'll learn

- Learn responsible conduct of research.

- Collect, analyze, and interpret behavioral data from mouse videos.

- Establish a foundation in using behavioral tests in laboratory mice.

- Understand obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans and compulsions in animals.

- Understand the role of animal models in studying human psychiatry.

Syllabus

Module 1: Introduction, Animal Care and Training

Module 2: Ethics of Animal Research

Module 3: OCD in humans and compulsive like behavior in mice (nesting)

Module 4: Compulsive-like behavior: Data collection and analysis of marble burying behavior

Module 5: Interpretation of results