PUBLICATION

Identification of a brain center whose activity discriminates a choice behavior in zebrafish

Authors
Lau, B.Y., Mathur, P., Gould, G.G., and Guo, S.
ID
ZDB-PUB-110131-14
Date
2011
Source
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America   108(6): 2581-2586 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Gould, Georgianna, Guo, Su, Lau, Billy, Mathur, Priya
Keywords
emotion, fear, anxiety, decision-making
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Behavior, Animal/physiology*
  • Brain Mapping*
  • Choice Behavior/physiology*
  • Sensory Receptor Cells/physiology
  • Telencephalon/physiology*
  • Visual Perception/physiology*
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
21262817 Full text @ Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA
Abstract
The ability to make choices and carry out appropriate actions is critical for individual survival and well-being. Choice behaviors, from hard-wired to experience-dependent, have been observed across the animal kingdom. Although differential engagement of sensory neuronal pathways is a known mechanism, neurobiological substrates in the brain that underlie choice making downstream of sensory perception are not well understood. Here, we report a behavioral paradigm in zebrafish in which a half-light/half-dark visual image evokes an innate choice behavior, light avoidance. Neuronal activity mapping using the immediate early gene c-fos reveals the engagement of distinct brain regions, including the medial zone of the dorsal telencephalic region (Dm) and the dorsal nucleus of the ventral telencephalic area (Vd), the teleost anatomical homologs of the mammalian amygdala and striatum, respectively. In animals that were subjected to the identical sensory stimulus but displayed little or no avoidance, strikingly, the Dm and Vd were not engaged, despite similar levels of activation in the brain nuclei involved in visual processing. Based on these findings and previous connectivity data, we propose a neural circuitry model in which the Dm serves as a brain center, the activity of which predicates this choice behavior in zebrafish.
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Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
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Mapping