Guide to Research Techniques in Neuroscience

Matt Carter is an Associate Professor of Biology at Williams College where he teaches courses in neuroscience and physiology. His research program focuses on how the brain regulates food intake and sleep and is funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. In addition to primary scientific publications, he is also the author of Designing Science Presentations (Academic Press). He is a recipient of the Walter Gores Award for Excellence in Teaching from Stanford University and the Nelson Bushnell Prize for Excellence in Teaching and Writing from Williams College. Rachel Essner is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at Harvard University and a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. She received a BA in Biology from Williams College in 2016, where she was awarded the Erastus C. Benedict prize in Biology. Her current research focuses on how the brain processes and regulates sensory signals from within the body. Nitsan Goldstein is a Neuroscience PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on gut–brain communication and how the brain regulates innate behaviors. Nitsan received her BA in Biology and Psychology from Williams College in 2015. She is the winner of the 2021 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation and is a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow. Manasi Iyer is a Neurosciences PhD candidate and a Graduate Fellow in Science and Engineering at Stanford University, where she is studying the cellular mechanisms that underlie developmental myelin formation in the central nervous system. She received her BA in Biology from Williams College in 2014, where she was awarded the Erastus C. Benedict Prize in Biology. When she is not in lab, Manasi spends her time teaching undergraduate courses such as Foundational Topics in Neuroscience and working with NeuWrite West as an editor and blog manager. She is also passionate about early child education.

1. Whole Brain Imaging
2. Animal Behavior
3. Stereotaxic Surgeries
4. Electrophysiology
5. Microscopy
6. Visualizing Nervous System Structure
7. Visualizing and Measuring Neural Dynamics
8. Manipulating Neural Activity
9. Identifying Genes and Proteins of Interest
10. Molecular Cloning and Recombinant DNA Technology
11. Gene Delivery Strategies
12. Making and using transgenic organisms
13. Cell culture techniques
14. Biochemical assays and intracellular signaling