Learning ObjectivesYou will be able to describe and evaluate why animals are used in lab studies when researching into drugs.
You will be able to describe and evaluate how animals are used to research drugs.
You will evaluate animal research in terms of both practical and ethical issues.
What do you think should go in the blanks?
According to the American Psychological Association, ___% of all psychological research involves the use of animals.
90% of research involving animals uses ________ and _____.
__ % of animals used are primates.
8
birds
rodents
5
Gene research Mice have been used to find out how genes affect behaviour.
What are the advantages of using mice?
Breeding: mice breed very quickly, so inheritance can be investigated much quicker than in humans
Similarity: The arrangement of genes along their chromosomes is similar enough to humans to be meaningful.
GenesMice have been used to investigate the effect of genes of deafness.
Rats have been used to study Parkinson’s disease.
Researchers use drugs to replicate the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, and then use gene therapy to reverse the symptoms.
The Nervous SystemRats have been used in investigations on the effects of antipsychotic drugs on brain structure, and on the nervous system within the brain. The changes they have discovered are:
The Striatum: increased in size due to increased blood flow
Glial cells: Increased density in the prefrontal cortex
Synapses: Increased number of synapses and changes in the synapses
The Nervous SystemMice have been used to investigate changes in ________________ when they were put under stress.
Stress in an area that is often studied using animals.
Why?
neurotransmitters
Studying functions of the brainResearch has been carried out into the way that antipsychotic drugs affect the brain and its nervous system. Most of the research has been carried out on rats and the findings generalised to humans.
However, the research needs to be replicated in human because of the differences in brain structure and function between rats and humans. MRI scans can be used for this
Studying functions of the brain
As far back as 1950, Lashley was investigating brain function in rats by using ablation (removing part of the brain).
He systematically removed parts of the rat’s brain to see what affect it had on memory.
Studying functions of the brain
Rats have also been used to investigate the effects of sleep deprivation.
The rats not only became distressed, but died because of the deprivation.
Nagaraja & Jeganathan (2003)
Examined the effects of acute
and chronicconditions of overcrowdingon free choice ethanol intake
in rats
Aim: To examine the effects of overcrowding on ethanol intake in rats
Method: A lab experiment with independent measures and two conditions
Conditions:Acute stressed - Overcrowded for 6 hours a day for a week
Chronic stressed - Overcrowded continuously for a week
Results:
Chronic stressed group showedincrease in ethanol intake andethanol preference over otherliquids.
EvaluationRelatively small
and easy to handle
The brains of animals are not the same as
humans: results may not be generalisable
Some animals have very short gestation periods and short reproductive
cycles
Their genetic structure is not the same as humans:
results may not be generalisable
Pro-speciesism suggests that we ought to do all we can to protect our
own species
Animals in experiments are not in their natural
surroundings, and therefore distressing
conditions
Evaluation
Some animals (mice etc) have a similar brain structure to humans
Human lives are complex and factors rarely
occur in isolation
Drugs have been developed that could
otherwise not have been developed.
Animals should be treated ethically . They are not sufficiently different from
humans to be treated as objects
Some animals (mice, rats etc) have a short lifespan
(2 years)
Some procedures have to be carried out
daily
Some diseases (Parkinson's) have to be replicated in
animals using drugs, and so may not be the same as the
disease itself. Therefore, studies might lack validity
Evaluation –
The knowledge obtained may also improve the lives of the species being tested
on.
Some procedures require accessing
specific parts of the brain that might then
be damaged.
Some procedures require strict control over the
environment
Using animals may not be
credible
Procedures can be carried out on humans
that can not be done on animals. E.g. ablation
and leisoning
Many animals feel
pain
TaskOrganise the statement slips into arguments for and against using animals for research.
Consider which arguments are practical and which are ethical