PUBLICATION
Impairment of social behaviour persists two years after embryonic alcohol exposure in zebrafish: A model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders
- Authors
- Fernandes, Y., Rampersad, M., Gerlai, R.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-150623-7
- Date
- 2015
- Source
- Behavioural brain research 292: 102-8 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Gerlai, Robert T.
- Keywords
- age, ethanol, ethyl alcohol, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, social behaviour, zebrafish
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Behavior, Animal/drug effects*
- Central Nervous System Depressants/pharmacology
- Disease Models, Animal
- Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
- Embryo, Nonmammalian/drug effects
- Ethanol/administration & dosage
- Female
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders/physiopathology*
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders/psychology*
- Male
- Pregnancy
- Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects*
- Social Behavior*
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 26097005 Full text @ Behav. Brain Res.
Citation
Fernandes, Y., Rampersad, M., Gerlai, R. (2015) Impairment of social behaviour persists two years after embryonic alcohol exposure in zebrafish: A model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders. Behavioural brain research. 292:102-8.
Abstract
Zebrafish naturally form social groups called shoals. Previously, we have shown that submerging zebrafish eggs into low concentrations of alcohol (0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00 vol/vol % external bath concentration) during development (24hours post-fertilization) for two hours resulted in impaired shoaling response in seven month old young adult zebrafish. Here we investigate whether this embryonic alcohol exposure induced behavioural deficit persists to older age. Zebrafish embryos were exposed either to fresh system water (control) or to 1% alcohol for two hours, 24hours after fertilization, and were raised in a high-density tank system. Social behaviour was tested by presenting the experimental fish with a computer animated group of zebrafish images, while automated tracking software measured their behaviour. Control fish were found to respond strongly to animated conspecific images by reducing their distanceand remaining close to the images during image presentation, embryonic alcohol treated fish did not. Our results suggest that the impaired shoaling response of the alcohol exposed fish was not due to altered motor function or visual perception, but likely to a Central Nervous System alteration affecting social behaviour itself. We found the effects of embryonic alcohol exposure on social behaviour not to diminish with age, a result that demonstrates the deleterious and potentially life-long consequences of exposure to even small amount of alcohol during embryonic development in vertebrates.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping