Behavioral Research Blog - EthoVision XT

A great example of optogenetics in behavioral studies is the work of Dr. Kravitz and Dr. Kreitzer at the Kreitzer lab (currently, Kravitz works at the NIDDK in Bethesda). Let me tell you about it.

Last year the news was hitting the internet: The Zwiebel lab (Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA) may have found a new bug repellant that is stronger than DEET.

Brains are complicated. We all know that. Like an entangled bunch of wires. Still, over the years, neuroscientists have been able to map out several brain regions and their functions in behavior and physiology.

Recognizing the lack of hands-on education, Dr. Kalueff has started organizing zebrafish behavioral neuroscience and phenotyping workshops. The workshops ran just before and after the SfN annual meeting, October 2012.

The study of behavior has proven itself to be useful in the context of ecotoxicology; the assessment of the impact of pesticides on ecology systems. It is a valuable tool in the risk assessment.

I have been reading a lot about zebrafish research lately and I thought it would be nice to share some of my favorite articles with you.

I recently wrote about other translations from rodent studies to zebrafish, such as the investigation of learning and memory and social behavior. Now it’s time to talk about anxiety and exploration.

Autism (ASD) continues to be an important topic in scientific research. Although finding the actual cause of ASD is still years away, there have been several studies that point to a strong genetic component.

Social behavior is a well-known topic of neuroscience research, since it is so often affected in psychiatric disorders. Think of obvious examples such as schizophrenia and autism.

Scrolling through our recent blogs, you can tell how important zebrafish have become in behavioral research. So we thought it was time to tell you a little more about some popular paradigms. Starting with the T-maze.