Gonny Smit
As a Marketing Communication Specialist, I get to read, write, and learn a lot about behavioral neuroscience. I spend my days creating anything from videos and blog posts to website and leaflet content. Outside of the office, I love spending time with my horse, working out, and traveling.
Strain differences in zebrafish behavior and physiology
A zebrafish is not just a zebrafish. Strain differences in zebrafish behavior and physiology.
Why it doesn’t seem fair to prefer male mice in behavioral studies
Is it justified to use male mice only in behavioral studies, as many diseases affect men and women differently? This might be the most important argument to favor including female mice in certain studies.
IR backlight in rodent behavioral testing
How do mice act in complete darkness? Ann-Kristina Fritz and her colleagues ordered a large, round open field with IR backlight, custom made by Noldus, to investigate.
Brain & behavior: data integration in horse studies
EEG recordings – they produce useful data, but are not always easy to obtain in animal studies. You can’t really ask a horse to sit still, so these researchers invented a promising new system for EEG recording.
Behavioral tests to select police horses
The personality of police horses influences how well they do in their ‘job’. That’s why personality tests are important for both animal and human welfare and safety.
Gait recovery and other effects: treatment of cervical myelopathy
At the Dr. Michael Fehlings' lab, they are on a quest to find out what exactly causes the lower success rate of delayed surgery in cervical myelopathy.
Time is of the essence in fish studies
You recently moved into your new house. How do you feel? How do you act in this new space? The answers may depend on how long you have lived there…
Social buffering in zebrafish
Shared sorrow is half a sorrow, according to the old proverb. New research indicates that social support is not only important for us humans, but also for zebrafish!
Fish live longer and are more active after eating “young poo”
Have you got the guts for it? Well, I hope you at least have the gut bacteria for it.
Isolated and stressed zebrafish as a model for major depression
Depression: a fifth (!) of us cope with it, making it the most prevalent psychiatric disorder. Prof. Gerlai recently investigated the interaction between mild stress and developmental isolation in zebrafish models.