Methods
Neuroscience, as a field, thrives on the development of new methods. Over the past several decades, these improvements have tended toward the reductionist, going ever further in pursuit of molecular and genetic mechanisms. As an integrative, organismal neuroscientist interested in hormones that act broadly throughout the brain and body, I have tended towards pursuing methods that have a broader scope.
Radiotelemetry
One common tool among behavioral neuroendocrinologists is the ELISA hormone assay for plasma. Often, this is used to measure glucocorticoids in order to gauge the actvity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis as part of a study on stress responsivity. However, measuring plasma glucocorticoids is invasive, requiring a blood-draw, which is in itself stressful, and yields only a single snapshot measure. In addition to measuring the hormonal activity of the HPA-axis, my research employs use of implantable radiotelemetry. The radiotelemetric approach is a dramatic improvement over traditional hormone assay approaches to the study of stress response, as it allows me to continually record heart rate, temperature, and activity across baseline, stimulus and return to baseline with great temporal precision and without the need for disturbing the animal with invasive blood draws.
fMRI
Mapping brain activity by immunohistological labeling of c-fos is another common neuroscience technique that involves a high degree of invasiveness and results in only a single snapshot measure. While working with Dr. Craig Ferris at Northeastern University, I developed the techniques to carry out awake fMRI in prairie voles. This approach allows for non-terminal (and therefore repeatable) testing to guage brain activity patterns in response to various stimuli. Furthermore, it allows for brain-wide analysis simulatenously, rather than the region-of-interest approach dictated by immunohistochemistry.