PUBLICATION
Olfactory conditioning in the zebrafish (Danio rerio)
- Authors
- Braubach, O.R., Wood, H.D., Gadbois, S., Fine, A., and Croll, R.P.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-081217-9
- Date
- 2009
- Source
- Behavioural brain research 198(1): 190-198 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Croll, Roger P.
- Keywords
- classical conditioning, learning & memory, zebrafish, olfaction, place preference
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Appetitive Behavior/physiology*
- Association Learning/physiology*
- Conditioning, Classical/physiology*
- Discrimination Learning/physiology
- Motor Activity/physiology
- Odorants*
- Olfactory Pathways/anatomy & histology
- Olfactory Pathways/physiology*
- Smell/physiology*
- Swimming
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 19056431 Full text @ Behav. Brain Res.
Citation
Braubach, O.R., Wood, H.D., Gadbois, S., Fine, A., and Croll, R.P. (2009) Olfactory conditioning in the zebrafish (Danio rerio). Behavioural brain research. 198(1):190-198.
Abstract
The zebrafish olfactory system is an attractive model for studying neural processing of chemosensory information. Here we characterize zebrafish olfactory behaviors and their modification through learning, using an apparatus consisting of a circular flow-through tank that allows controlled administration of odorants. When exposed to the amino acids l-alanine and l-valine, naive zebrafish responded with appetitive swimming behavior, which we measured as the number of >90 degrees turns made during 30-s observation periods. Such appetitive responses were not observed when naive zebrafish were exposed to an unnatural odorant, phenylethyl alcohol (PEA). Repeated pairing of amino acids or PEA (conditioned stimuli, CS) with food flakes (unconditioned stimuli; UCS) increased odorant-evoked appetitive swimming behavior in all fish tested. The zebrafish also learned to restrict this behavior to the vicinity of a feeding ring, through which UCS were administered. When both nares were temporarily occluded, conditioned fish failed to respond to odorants, confirming that these behaviors were mediated by olfaction. These results represent the first demonstration of a classically conditioned appetitive response to a behaviorally neutral odorant in fish. Furthermore, they complement recent demonstrations of conditional place preferences in fish. By virtue of its robustness and simplicity, this method will be a useful tool for future research into the biological basis of olfactory learning in zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping