Department of Psychology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA.
Rev Neurosci. 2011;22(1):63-73. doi: 10.1515/RNS.2011.008.
This review provides an overview of the assays that are used for measuring escape and avoidance behavior in zebrafish, with a specific focus on zebrafish larvae during the first week of development. Zebrafish larvae display a startle response when exposed to tactile, acoustic, or visual stimuli and will avoid dark areas, moving objects, conspecifics, and open spaces. Emotional states such as fear and anxiety might be induced when larvae are exposed to stimuli that they would normally escape from or avoid. Although these emotional states probably differ between species and change during development, much can be learned about human fear and anxiety using zebrafish as a model system. The molecular mechanisms of fear and anxiety are highly conserved in vertebrates and are present during early zebrafish development. Larvae during the first week of development display elevated cortisol levels in response to stress and are sensitive to the same anxiolytics that are used for the management of anxiety in humans. Zebrafish larvae are well suited for high-throughput analyses of behavior, and automated systems have been developed for imaging and analyzing the behavior of zebrafish larvae in multiwell plates. These high-throughput analyses will not only provide a wealth of information on the genes and environmental factors that influence escape and avoidance behaviors and the emotional states that might accompany them but will also facilitate the discovery of novel pharmaceuticals that could be used in the management of anxiety disorders in humans.
这篇综述概述了用于测量斑马鱼逃避和回避行为的测定方法，特别关注发育第一周的斑马鱼幼虫。当斑马鱼幼虫暴露于触觉、听觉或视觉刺激时，它们会表现出惊跳反应，并会避开黑暗区域、移动的物体、同种个体和开阔的空间。当幼虫暴露于它们通常会逃避或回避的刺激时，可能会引发恐惧和焦虑等情绪状态。虽然这些情绪状态可能因物种而异，并在发育过程中发生变化，但使用斑马鱼作为模型系统可以很好地了解人类的恐惧和焦虑。恐惧和焦虑的分子机制在脊椎动物中高度保守，并且存在于早期斑马鱼发育过程中。发育第一周的幼虫在应激反应下会升高皮质醇水平，并且对用于人类焦虑症管理的相同抗焦虑药物敏感。斑马鱼幼虫非常适合用于行为的高通量分析，已经开发出用于在微孔板中对斑马鱼幼虫的行为进行成像和分析的自动化系统。这些高通量分析不仅将提供大量关于影响逃避和回避行为以及可能伴随的情绪状态的基因和环境因素的信息，还将促进发现可用于人类焦虑症管理的新型药物。
