Assignment task: There is a new (hypothetical, made up for this exam prompt) phenotype of anxiety disorder, with significant deficits in working memory.
1. If you were a cognitive neuroscientist studying this phenotype in human patients, what types of imaging would you consider using to test for specific patterns of brain activation during the completion of working memory tasks? Why would you select this imaging technique?
2. What techniques could be used by a research group aiming to develop an animal model (genetic or neurochemical) for this new anxiety disorder? What background information is needed to develop animal models?
3. Once you have an animal model for this new anxiety disorder, which behavioral test would you employ to determine whether a potential drug treatment impacts working memory function? Why would you use these test?