Zebrafish antipredatory responses: A future for translational research?

Abstract

Human neuropsychiatric conditions associated with abnormally exaggerated or misdirected fear (anxiety disorders and phobias) still represent a large unmet medical need because the biological mechanisms underlying these diseases are not well understood. Animal models have been proposed to facilitate this research. Here I review the literature with a focus on zebrafish, an upcoming laboratory organism in behavioral brain research. I argue that abnormal human fear responses are likely the result of the malfunction of neurobiological mechanisms (brain areas, circuits and/or molecular mechanisms) that originally evolved to support avoidance of predators or other harm in nature. I also argue that the understanding of the normal as well as pathological functioning of such mechanisms may be best achieved if one utilizes naturalistic experimental approaches. In case of laboratory model organisms, this may entail presenting stimuli associated with predators and measuring species-specific antipredatory responses. Although zebrafish is a relatively new subject of such inquiry, I review the recently rapidly increasing number of zebrafish studies in this area, and conclude that zebrafish is a promising research tool for the analysis of the neurobiology and genetics of vertebrate fear responses.

Unpredictable chronic stress decreases inhibitory avoidance learning in Tuebingen Long-Fin zebrafish (Danio rerio Hamilton): stronger effects in the resting phase than in the active phase

“…Our data strongly suggest that at a behavioural and physiological level the UCS protocol is robust and reproducible in decreasing inhibitory learning and elevating whole-body cortisol content across strains of zebrafish, i.e. the TLF strain used in our study and the AB strain in the study of Piato and colleagues (Piato et al, 2011), which is critical for advancing the zebrafish as a model for brain-behaviour studies associated with depression, anxiety and other mood-related disorders (Chakravarty et al, 2013;Gerlai, 2010a;Gerlai, 2010b;Norton, 2013;Piato et al, 2011). In addition, our data reveal that the reduction in inhibitory avoidance learning relates to increasing levels of stress load.…”

“…An upcoming research area is the use of zebrafish as a model to study the effects of chronic stress on brain and behaviour in relation to depression, anxiety and other mood-related disorders (Chakravarty et al, 2013;Gerlai, 2010a;Gerlai, 2010b;Norton, 2013;Piato et al, 2011;Stewart et al, 2014). Zebrafish may be of interest for chronic stress research as they express two glucocorticoid receptors (GR), GRα and GRβ, as humans do but not rodents (Schaaf et al, 2009;Schoonheim et al, 2010).…”

Towards a Comprehensive Catalog of Zebrafish Behavior 1.0 and Beyond

“…[1][2][3] Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are rapidly emerging as a useful species for studying normal or pathological behaviors [4][5][6][7][8][9][10] and modeling complex brain disorders [11][12][13][14][15][16][17] (Table 1). The zebrafish genome is fully characterized, and their physiology and neuroanatomy parallel those of humans.…”

Behavioral and biochemical effects of ethanol withdrawal in zebrafish

“…The relatively high degree of genetic, neural, and endocrine homology with rodents and human beings is also cited as an advantage (Kokel & Peterson, 2008). Zebrafish is also a good model for studying anxiety and stress, with well-validated assays for novelty-and conflict-induced anxiety, social interaction, and antipredatory behavior (Gerlai, 2010;Maximino, Marques, et al, 2010;Oliveira, 2013). Importantly for EtOH withdrawal, seizure-like phenotypes were also characterized in the species (Hortopan, Dinday, & Baraban, 2010).…”