Controls in SCI experiments
Spinal cord injury experiments involve complex and invasive procedures; groups of animals undergoing the injury must be compared with control groups to understand how various aspects of these procedures influence the outcome measures, and to discover to what extent differences between uninjured and injured animals are due to the injury itself.
In the Regenbase Knowledge Base, groups of animals treated in the same way are called study groups. Study groups in turn are divided into experimental groups, which are those groups undergoing the experimental interventions, and control groups, which do not receive the intervention itself but may undergo procedures ancillary to the intervention.
Control groups are themselves subdivided into treatment response control groups and injury control groups. One kind of treatment response control group is the positive treatment response control group, which receives a treatment known to evoke a particular change in an outcome measure. Such groups are included to ensure both that the experiment is being performed correctly and that the outcome measures are being assessed correctly.
The other kind of treatment response control group is the negative treatment response control group, which is a group receiving a treatment NOT expected to evoke a change in the outcome measure. These groups are included to test the idea that the experimental intervention, and not some other aspect of the procedure, is responsible for a change in outcome measure. Negative treatment response controls includes the vehicle control group, in which animals receive treatment with the vehicle in which the experimental substance is dissolved or suspended, and the inactive treatment control group, in which animals receive treatment with an inactive substance related to the experimental substance, such an inactive isomer of an experimental compound. Finally, the no treatment response control group consists of animals that do not receive the treatment at all.
The other major kind of control group is the injury control group, designed to test the extent to which the injury itself, and not some other aspect of animal handling or surgery, is responsible for the outcome measure changes observed in injured animals. The simplest injury control group is the naïve control group, in which animals are not subjected to any procedures related to the injury. The other injury control group is the sham surgery control group, in which animals are subjected to procedures related to the injury such as restraint, anesthesia, or incisions, but not to the injury itself. Sham surgery controls for spinal cord injury groups include the laminectomy control group, in which animals undergo the entire surgical procedure up to and including exposure of the spinal cord. The laminectomy control group includes the dura intact control group in which the dura is left intact and the dura open control group in which the dura is incised but the spinal cord is undisturbed.
When specifying the study group(s) used in an experiment, note that a given control group may belong to more than one category, such as the dura open control group and no treatment control group.
The RegenBase Knowledge Base performs best when control groups are categorized as precisely as possible. Encoding the relationships between types of control groups in the RegenBase Knowledge Base allows analysts to aggregate experiments and data by the control group(s) used and also enables computer-based reasoning to infer logically sound data comparisons.
In the Regenbase Knowledge Base, groups of animals treated in the same way are called study groups. Study groups in turn are divided into experimental groups, which are those groups undergoing the experimental interventions, and control groups, which do not receive the intervention itself but may undergo procedures ancillary to the intervention.
Control groups are themselves subdivided into treatment response control groups and injury control groups. One kind of treatment response control group is the positive treatment response control group, which receives a treatment known to evoke a particular change in an outcome measure. Such groups are included to ensure both that the experiment is being performed correctly and that the outcome measures are being assessed correctly.
The other kind of treatment response control group is the negative treatment response control group, which is a group receiving a treatment NOT expected to evoke a change in the outcome measure. These groups are included to test the idea that the experimental intervention, and not some other aspect of the procedure, is responsible for a change in outcome measure. Negative treatment response controls includes the vehicle control group, in which animals receive treatment with the vehicle in which the experimental substance is dissolved or suspended, and the inactive treatment control group, in which animals receive treatment with an inactive substance related to the experimental substance, such an inactive isomer of an experimental compound. Finally, the no treatment response control group consists of animals that do not receive the treatment at all.
The other major kind of control group is the injury control group, designed to test the extent to which the injury itself, and not some other aspect of animal handling or surgery, is responsible for the outcome measure changes observed in injured animals. The simplest injury control group is the naïve control group, in which animals are not subjected to any procedures related to the injury. The other injury control group is the sham surgery control group, in which animals are subjected to procedures related to the injury such as restraint, anesthesia, or incisions, but not to the injury itself. Sham surgery controls for spinal cord injury groups include the laminectomy control group, in which animals undergo the entire surgical procedure up to and including exposure of the spinal cord. The laminectomy control group includes the dura intact control group in which the dura is left intact and the dura open control group in which the dura is incised but the spinal cord is undisturbed.
When specifying the study group(s) used in an experiment, note that a given control group may belong to more than one category, such as the dura open control group and no treatment control group.
The RegenBase Knowledge Base performs best when control groups are categorized as precisely as possible. Encoding the relationships between types of control groups in the RegenBase Knowledge Base allows analysts to aggregate experiments and data by the control group(s) used and also enables computer-based reasoning to infer logically sound data comparisons.
