Abstract
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) has emerged as a promising model organism for affective or cognitive neuroscience research, and may be useful to study the interplay between memory and anxiety-related states. To assess the effects of acute psychological stress on spatial and cued memory, adult zebrafish were trained in an aquatic plus-maze for 14 days using food bait as a reward. Two ecologically relevant stressors (alarm pheromone or Indian leaf fish exposure) were applied to acutely stress zebrafish immediately prior to the final (testing) trial. Overall, acute single inescapable stress markedly impaired spatial and cued memory in zebrafish plus-maze test, reducing the number of correct arm entries and time spent in the target arm. This observation parallels rodent and clinical literature on memory-impairing effects of acute stress, strongly supporting the utility of zebrafish in neurobehavioral research.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 224-230 |
Number of pages | 7 |
Journal | Behavioural Processes |
Volume | 87 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jun 2011 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Adult zebrafish
- Alarm pheromone
- Cued memory
- Indian leaf fish
- Plus-maze test
- Spatial memory
- Stress exposure