scholarly journals Larval zebrafish display dynamic learning of aversive stimuli in a constant visual surrounding

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (7) ◽  
pp. 228-238
Author(s):  
Jiale Xu ◽  
Romelo Casanave ◽  
Su Guo
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiale Xu ◽  
Romelo Casanave ◽  
Su Guo

AbstractBalancing exploration and anti-predation are fundamental to the fitness and survival of all animal species from early life stages. How these basic survival instincts drive learning remains poorly understood. Here, employing a light/dark preference paradigm with well-controlled luminance history and constant visual surrounding in larval zebrafish, we analyzed intra- and inter-trial dynamics for two behavioral components, dark avoidance and center avoidance. We uncover that larval zebrafish display short-term learning of dark avoidance with initial sensitization followed by habituation; they also exhibit long-term learning that is sensitive to trial interval length. We further show that such stereotyped learning patterns is stimulus specific, as they are not observed for center avoidance. Finally, we demonstrate at individual levels that long-term learning is under homeostatic control. Together, our work has established a novel paradigm to understand learning, uncovered sequential sensitization and habituation, and demonstrated stimulus specificity, individuality, as well as dynamicity in learning.


ASHA Leader ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 2-2
Author(s):  
Larry Boles ◽  
Amy J. Hadley ◽  
Jeanne M. Johnson ◽  
Joan A. Luckhurst ◽  
Christine Krkovich

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