From Indybay: Frederic Theunissen performs invasive brain recordings on finches. He also uses a wild-caught crow and a wild-caught raven.
The purpose, he claims, is to "achieve a better understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the perception of complex sounds" and "learning mechanisms during development."
He states "there may exist an overall sexual preference for a male with a 'sexy song.'" How demented.
From a 2006 paper of Theunissen's: Twenty-one adult male zebra finches were used.
All birds were bred and raised at the University of California, Berkeley. We recorded the electro-physiological responses of single units in the auditory midbrain region.
Two days before recording, a bird was anesthetized... The bird was then placed in a custom stereotaxic with ear bars and a beak holder. Lidocaine was applied to the
skin overlying the skull, and a midline incision was made.
A metal pin was fixed to the skull with dental cement... On the day of recording, the bird was anesthetized with three injections and placed in the stereotaxic. At this dose, achieves a level
of anethesia without complete loss of consciousness.
The bird's head was immobilized by attaching the metal pin cemented to the bird's skull to a customized holder mounted on the stereotaxic.
Lidocaine was applied to the skin overlying the skull region covering the optic lobe.
After application, a small incision was made in the skin over
the skull covering the optic tectum. A small opening was made in the skull, and the dura was resected from the surface of the brain. ...Neural recordings were conducted in a sound-attenuated chamber.
...After recording, the bird was anesthetized with Nembutal and transcardially perfused with 0.9% saline followed by 3.7% formalin in 0.025m phosphate
buffer. The skullcap was removed and the brain was postfixed in formalin for at least 5d.
From Indybay: John Casida fed nerve poisons (contained in pesticides and chemical warfare agents) to mice to find
the level at which half of them will die in two hours, the notorious LD50 test - a very cruel and unnecessary practice
as in-vitro toxicology tests are available and more accurate and relevant.
Frank Werblin's experiments on confined rabbits.
Home:
Frank Werblin
491 Boynton Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Home Phone: (510) 528-6301
Office:
145 Life Sciences Addition
Berkeley, CA 94720
Office Phone: 510- 642-7236
Lab Phone: 510-642-3281
Fax: 801-640-3205
Email: werblin@berkeley.edu
From a 2005 paper of Werblin's: New Zealand white rabbits were anesthetized with injections of xylazine/ketamine and subsequently killed with an intracardial injection of pentobarbital sodium.
Immediately after death, the eyes were removed [and studied].
Jeffery Winer: hideous brain and ear recordings on cats.
Jeffery Winer currently performs highly invasive and gruesome brain and ear recordings on cats. He has performed similar experiments on primates, owls, bats, and rodents.
Home:
Jeffery Winer
608 Robinson Way
Benicia, CA 94510
(707) 746-7289
Office:
289 Life Sciences Addition
Berkeley, CA 94720
Office Phone: (510) 642-8227
Lab Phone: (510) 642-9637
Email: jaw@berkeley.edu
Lucia Jacobs: Painful and useless behavioral studies on mice, various squirrel species, kangaroo rats, voles, and other animals.
Home:
Lucia Jacobs
438 Beloit Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Home Phone: (510) 527-4302
Office:
Professor Lucia Jacobs
3117 Tolman Hall
Berkeley, CA 94720
Office Phone: (510) 642-5739
Email: jacobs@berkeley.edu
Fax: (510) 642-5293
Mu-Ming Poo: Cocaine addiction and decapitation of rodents
Mu-Ming Poo addicts rodents to cocaine. He also decapitates baby rats.
Home:
Mu-Ming Poo
1753 Tacoma Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94707
Office:
Professor Mu-Ming Poo
229 Life Sciences Addition
Berkeley, CA 94720
Office Phone: (510) 642-2514
Lab Phone: (510) 643-4576
Email: mpoo@berkeley.edu
Fax: 510-642-2544
From a 2007 paper of Poo's: "Young Sprague Dawley rats were anesthetized with Sodium Pentobarbital and decapitated. T he brain was rapidly dissected and transferred [to be studied.]"