Homebase behavior of zebrafish in novelty-based paradigms

Adam Stewart, Jonathan Cachat, Keith Wong, Siddharth Gaikwad, Thomas Gilder, John DiLeo, Katie Chang, Eli Utterback, Allan V. Kalueff*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

83 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) are emerging as a promising model species in neuroscience research. Many traditional rodent behavioral paradigms may be adapted for zebrafish testing. Exposing zebrafish to three different " open field" tanks for 30min, we showed that fish display robust homebase behavior, in which one area of the tank is chosen as a preferred point of reference during the test, which the fish frequently return to and spend a longer duration in. This phenotype strikingly resembles rodent homebase behavior, confirming that both species use homebases as " reference points" for their exploration. Our study introduces a simple method for zebrafish homebase phenotyping, and further supports the utility of these fish in neurobehavioral and cognitive research.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)198-203
Number of pages6
JournalBehavioural Processes
Volume85
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Oct 2010
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Exploration
  • Homebase behavior
  • Open field test
  • Zebrafish

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