Zebrafish shoaling behavior: its development, quantification, neuro-chemical correlates, and application in a disease model

Abnormal social behavior is a symptom of many human conditions, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). The zebrafish may be an excellent model to study embryonic alcohol effects, owing to the ease of drug administration. In recent decades, zebrafish have become increasingly popular in behavioral neuroscience, and their elaborate behavioral repertoire can provide insights in brain functioning and social behavior in response to teratogens or pharmaceutical agents. Shoaling is the zebrafish’s most notable behavioral feature, but has not been well characterized. I have started this characterization by describing the ontogeny of shoaling behavior. Embryonic exposure to low doses of ethanol has been shown to impair social behavior without any gross morphological alterations in zebrafish. However, this has not been studied in freely moving groups (shoals). Validation for using a shoaling task in behavioral testing, and potentially for high throughput analyses in the future, hinges on thorough characterization of the behavioral effects, however subtle in alcohol treated zebrafish. In my studies, I have shown that social behavior is impaired in zebrafish in a group setting after one time embryonic ethanol exposure. I have also discovered that this impairment is accompanied by a reduction of dopamine, serotonin, DOPAC and 5HIAA, neurochemicals measured in whole brain samples using HPLC. I have developed refined methods of measuring shoaling behavior in ten member zebrafish groups, laying the foundation for high throughput screening of adult zebrafish. Zebrafish are an economical model, and therefore lend themselves particularly well for high throughput