Animal Behavior Research

We are all very familiar with zebrafish as a model species in neuroscience research. Today, let's talk about another fish, the Japanese medaka.

This week we have a guest post by Iris Hovens. She has done some really interesting research into the consequences of surgery in terms of reduced memory and concentration problems.

Sexual selection can lead to fascinating phenomena. We are all familiar with the fabulous color display of male peacocks to attract females. Less well known, but definitely not less interesting, are stalk-eyed flies.

Bed nets treated with insecticide (ITNs) greatly decrease malaria illness and mortality. ITNs can decrease infant mortality from all causes by more than 20%.

Letting animals walk freely in gait research. At Noldus, we strongly believe this is the way to go, so that is how our CatWalk XT system works.

Mouse models are essential for neuroscience research. Many tests are susceptible to bias. Home cage testing provides a number of solutions.

Aphids are small insects that pierce plant leaves and suck out their contents. Although they inflict limited physical destruction to the plant, aphids commonly infect plants with viruses, which can destroy complete harvests.

Aggressive behavior is adaptive for most species. But how is this aggressive behavior mediated in the brain? A recent study indicates that the hippocampus is a crucial neural component in mediating social recognition.

Myelination, the ‘ensheathment’ of neurons, is essential to the functioning of the central and peripheral nervous systems. So it is not surprising that problems with myelination can lead to a number of crippling diseases.

At the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg, Germany, Groneberg and colleagues researched one of the neural bases for behavior in Danio rerio.