PUBLICATION

Extending the analysis of zebrafish behavioral endophenotypes for modeling psychiatric disorders: Fear conditioning to conspecific alarm response

Authors
Maximino, C., Meinerz, D.L., Fontana, B.D., Mezzomo, N.J., Stefanello, F.V., de S Prestes, A., Batista, C.B., Rubin, M.A., Barbosa, N.V., Rocha, J.B.T., Lima, M.G., Rosemberg, D.B.
ID
ZDB-PUB-180208-5
Date
2018
Source
Behavioural processes   149: 35-42 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Lima, Monica Gomes, Maximino, Caio
Keywords
Fear conditioning, alarm substance, conditioned place aversion, psychiatric disorders, zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Avoidance Learning*
  • Conditioning, Psychological*
  • Disease Models, Animal*
  • Endophenotypes
  • Fear/psychology*
  • Immobility Response, Tonic*
  • Male
  • Movement
  • Zebrafish*
PubMed
29409977 Full text @ Behav. Processes
Abstract
Anxiety, trauma- and stressor-related disorders are severe psychiatric conditions that affect human population worldwide. Given their genetic tractability, evolutionarily conserved neurotransmitter systems, and extensive behavioral repertoire, zebrafish have become an emergent model organism in translational neuroscience. Here, we investigate whether a single exposure to conspecific alarm substance (CAS) produces fear conditioning in zebrafish using a conditioned place aversion (CPA) paradigm, as well as the persistence of aversive responses at different time intervals. While CAS elicited freezing and erratic movements at conditioning phase, zebrafish showed a robust avoidance for the CAS-paired compartment and increased risk assessment up to 7 days postconditioning. Additionally, we observed the existence of two behavioral phenotypes (high- and low-avoider fish) that present different fear-like responses at conditioning phase and evasion of the conditioning side at postconditioning trials. Collectively, we show a prolonged conditioned place aversion in zebrafish after a single CAS conditioning session, reinforcing the use of fear conditioning protocols as valuable strategies for modeling psychiatric disorders-related phenotypes in zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Figures
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping