Animal Behavior Research Blog Posts

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.

Dynamic winners and sluggish losers

We all know the phenomenon: some have it all. Look around a classroom and you see immediately who gets all the attention and who doesn’t, who are “winners”, and who are “losers”. Are we born this way, or do we learn it?

Spatial and odor memory impaired mice – new model for Alzheimer’s

Plaques and tangles… those of you even remotely familiar with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) will immediately recognize these hallmarks. But they are linked to familial AD, while sporadic AD is far more common.

To be ravenous or to be social

Prosocial behavior, a voluntary behavior to benefit another, is an interesting concept from an evolutionary point of view. At first sight it may seem logical to be social.

Free-choice digital interactive enrichment and human-animal interaction

Great apes have fast reflex, gazes, and movements: The Observer XT’s features allow frame by frame coding and accurate data integration.

How obese mice get moving

By a showing of hands: how many of you started this New Year with the resolution to get moving? Burn off those extra holiday calories, or finally really get in shape?

How optogenetics is used to study the stress response in zebrafish larvae

Stress might seem like a bad word, but it does have its perks. A recent study by Rodrigo J. De Marco uncovered the role of the pituitary in zebrafish larvae behavior after the onset of stress.

Autistic mice have motor learning difficulties specific to the cerebellum

Autism is often associated with social behavior deficits and repetitive behaviors. However, motor abnormalities are also a part of the behavioral spectrum. Recent studies have implicated the cerebellum.

Discrimination learning without human intervention or food restriction

Sylics recently introduced CognitionWall, a new paradigm for discrimination learning in the home cage that avoids the necessity for food restriction and handling in learning tests.

Video tracking for high-throughput screening of plant resistance to thrips

A thrips is a tiny insect that can have a not-so-tiny effect on plants. A lot of research is currently carried out on how to get rid of these creatures.

High-throughput screening of plant lines for resistance to pest insects

The EthoGenomics project focused on screening for host plant resistance to insect pest species. Video tracking provides the possibility to scale up the screening method largely.