SNEU23004U Laboratory Animal Neuroscience and Neurosurgery
MSc in Neurocience - elective course
The course includes the following topics:
Legislation, ethics and welfare, comparative and basic biology, nutrition, health, genetics, housing and facilities, occupational health, pain relief incl. anaesthesia and analgesia, euthanasia, experimental design, animal models, brain surgery, and invasive procedures related to rodent neuroscience.
The course is a function A/B/D course according to the EU Directive 2010/63 /EU Article 23.2 (previously designated category C) accredited by the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations and approved by the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries under the Danish Government.
The course gives as practical and theoretic introduction to handling, housing and using laboratory animals and how to replace, refine and reduce the use of live animals for research.
The course also covers a practical and theoretical introduction to invasive rodent brain surgery and other procedures related to rodent neuroscience.
The course adheres to the more detailed learning outcomes described in the EU guidance paper 'A working document on the development of a common education and training framework to fulfill the requirements under the Directive' ( https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fca9ae7f-2554-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1 ).
After completing the course the student is expected to:
Knowledge
- understand that animal experimentation is complicated and requires current training to secure the well-being of the animals and the scientific outcome
- explain the biological basis of laboratory animal breeding and maintenance, housing and management including basic genetics and reproduction, health monitoring, housing and handling (pre-, intra and post-procedural)
- explain the legal basis for animal experimentation
- explain and critically evaluate the scientific methods applied within animal experimentation including blood sampling, injections, principles for drug-development and testing, anesthesia and analgesia and evaluation of pain and stress related behaviour in laboratory animals
- discuss the basic biology of laboratory animals including behavioural and physiological needs
- explain and critically evaluate basic knowledge relating to design and evaluation of studies using live animals
- give examples of commonly applied animal models
- know how rodent brain surgery is performed using brain coordinates and Kopf instrument.
Skills
- organize self-training on handling and procedures in the most common laboratory animals
- discuss and evaluate the basic principles on how to use animals for research and brain research
- discuss and evaluate principles of procedures on their future experiments
- discuss, evaluate and argue about the ethical basis for the use
of animals for research
Competencies
- independently take responsibility to implement and further develop practical skills in handling of common rodents used for research
- independently take responsibility to implement and further develop practical skills in the performance of basic animal experiments
- achieve a personal license to independently plan, implement and take responsibility for the design and performance of animal experimentation within the European Union according to the EU Directive 2010/63/EU Article 23.2 and the Danish executive order No 2028 of 14/12/2020, §56
Hau, J. & Schapiro SJ: Handbook of Laboratory Animal Science, 4th ed., Vol. 1, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 2021.
Additional review papers.
Animal experimentation legislation.
Exercise manual for Laboratory Animal Science (will be placed on
Absalon).
Lectures and on-line material on Absalon
Only MSc students can attend the course.
Practical exercises handling live animals with instructors are given as three mandatory sessions that the students need to sign in for. Performance will be evaluated during these exercises. The students are expected to be prepared by reading a manual and watching videos prior to the exercises sessions.
Evaluation model: Survey-based model.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 4
- Class Instruction
- 20
- Preparation
- 88
- Practical exercises
- 54
- E-Learning
- 80
- Exam
- 2
- Total
- 248
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Oral examination, 15 minutes
- Type of assessment details
- Oral examination, 15 minutes in presence of two internal
examiners (online examination).
A number of exam questions based on the entire curriculum are available when the course starts. On the day of the exam, two (2) out of these questions are drawn by random for the student to answer satisfactorily. - Exam registration requirements
Full and satisfactory participation at practical exercises. Demonstration of performance for an instructor during the exercises.
- Aid
- Without aids
- Marking scale
- passed/not passed
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
Two internal examiners.
- Exam period
Immediately following the course.
Criteria for exam assesment
To achieve the grade passed, the student shall (in an adequate level) be able to:
Knowledge:
- understand that animal experimentation is complicated and requires current training to secure the well-being of the animals and the scientific outcome
- explain the biological basis of laboratory animal breeding and maintenance, housing and management including basic genetics and reproduction, health monitoring, housing and handling (pre-, intra and post-procedural)
- explain the legal basis for animal experimentation
- explain and critically evaluate the scientific methods applied within animal experimentation including blood sampling, injections, principles for drug-development and testing, anesthesia and analgesia and evaluation of pain -and stress related behaviour in laboratory animals
- discuss the basic biology of laboratory animals including behavioural and physiological needs
- explain and critically evaluate basic knowledge relating to design and evaluation of studies using live animals
- give examples of commonly applied animal models
Skills:
- discuss and evaluate the basic principles on how to use animals for research
- be able to plan an experiment in relation to experimental design, group sizes and reporting
- discuss and evaluate principles of procedures on their future experiments
- discuss, evaluate and argue about the ethical basis for the use of animals for research
- handle, do minor procedures and kill rodents for research at a level sufficient to fulfill learning outcomes 3.2.1. , 8.1. , 8.2., 8.3. , 6.2.1. , and 6.2.2. of the EU Guidance Paper ( https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/fca9ae7f-2554-11e9-8d04-01aa75ed71a1 )
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- SNEU23004U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 semester
- Placement
- Spring
- Schedule
- Schedule A + B
When enrolling the course, students are given the opportunity to choose exercises of a 1.5-day duration within the same week.
Use the Self Service system at KUnet to enroll the course and give all the exercise weeks an priority. The given exercise week are made simultaneously as the course approval.
In the late registration period the student can choose one of the available exercise weeks. - Course capacity
- 30 students
Study board
- Study Board for Human Biology, Immunology and Neuroscience
Contracting department
- Department of Neuroscience
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
Course Coordinators
- Andreas Toft Sørensen (8-6b786e7c6f6b7d7d4a7d7f786e38757f386e75)
- Klas Abelson (6-7374697b696a487b7d766c36737d366c73)
Lecturers
Andreas Toft Sørensen
Klas Abelson
Axel Kornerup Hansen
Otto Kalliokoski
Dorte Bratbo Sørensen
Camilla Hartmann Friis Hansen