The Design of Experiments in Neuroscience

"You are about to start on a great adventure. You are going to transition from reading about science to becoming a scientist."
-From the PrefaceUsing engaging, disarming prose, author Mary Harrington shows neuroscience students how to go about selecting a topic, designing an experiment, analyzing the results, and publishing a paper. This text effectively illustrates basic research methods and design principles by uniquely using relevant examples from neuroscience such as the principles of design of fMRI studies, the use of transgenic mice, and conditional gene knockouts. The author also addresses basic professional ethics, fundamental statistics and data analysis tools, the range of possible experimental designs (from simple descriptive studies to multifactorial designs), and ways to control unwanted variables and avoid common pitfalls.This text is intended as either a core or supplemental text for both undergraduates and graduate students studying research methods in Neuroscience, Neuroanatomy, Neurophysiology, Neurochemistry, or Biological Psychology.

About Author

Mary Harrington received a B.S. in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University, an M.A, in Psychology from the University of Toronto and a Ph.D. in Behavioral, anatomical and Physiological Studies from Dalhousie University in Canada. Currently, she is the Tippit Professor in the Life Sciences at Smith College in Massachusetts. In addition, she is a member of the Neuroscience and Behavior Program at the University of Massachusetts as Amherst and an Adjunct Member of the Center for Neuro-endocrine Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Mary has published extensively in the Journals and has received research grants from NIH, NSF, Mellon Foundation and Pfizer. She is Associate Editor of the Journal of Neuroscience, Advisory Board Member for SOMAS (Support of mentors and their students in the neurosciences). She is an external reviewer for Neuroscience Program site visits and a Study Section Reviewer for NIH. She teaches various courses in the Psychology Department at both the undergraduate and graduate levels