Stress & anxiety research

Tools for

Stress & anxiety research

Zebrafish offer a great model in research on fear and anxiety related disorders. A straight-forward but well-validated test is the novel tank diving tests. As zebrafish are put in a novel environment, they typically dwell the bottom at first. The bolder they are, the sooner they will start exploring the top half of the tank and spend more time there.

Tools for Stress & anxiety research
 

Horizontal and vertical behaviors

Bottom dwelling behavior and latency to start exploring the upper half of the tank are important indicators of inhibited exploration, which is considered indicative of stress and anxiety. These are useful parameters in the study of anxiolytic and anxiogenic properties of certain compounds. Side-view tracking is a practical approach to measure these parameters.

Set-ups such as open fields and light/dark boxes require a top-view approach to assess whether animals prefer certain sections of the tank.

 
 


Swim patterns

The location of the fish in the tank, whether seen from a side or top view, is important and relatively straight-forward to measure. However, many researchers argue that anxiety and stress in fish are also indicated by reduced speed and more erratic movements. This is more difficult to measure manually, but it is an easy task for video tracking software.

 
 


Deeper insights

Some studies require an in-depth study of swimming behavior (for example those of a range of potential anxiogenic or anxiolytic substances). The challenge here is that fish swim in 3D. A true assessment of path shape, erratic movement, even velocity cannot be fully gained from a side or top view.

The analysis of 3D swim patterns offers a more detailed analysis of the effect of compounds. For example, at the Kalueff Lab (Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA) they found that when examining different effects from known anxiolytics and anxiogenics, 3D tracking revealed much more pronounced differences in zebrafish behavior. In addition, some behavioral effects were even undetected when observations were limited to 2D video tracking.

 
zebrafish in a tank
 



Tracking in 3D

To analyze swim patterns in a three-dimensional space, researchers can use the Track3D add-on to the video tracking tool EthoVision XT. Based on the calibration of the arena and subsequent combination of the top-view and side-view track from EthoVision XT, Track3D visualizes and analyzes the complete swim path of the fish. It also allows you to calculate a number of movement parameters.

 
 

References

 



Relevant blogs

How zebrafish regenerate (and how to measure their recovery)

How zebrafish regenerate (and how to measure their recovery)

We all know of animals that are able to regenerate: lizards that grow back their tails, flatworms that can grow into new worms when cut in half. Zebrafish have this special ability as well.
What is DanioVision? A brief insight in zebrafish tracking

What is DanioVision? A brief insight in zebrafish tracking

In this blog we provide a quick refresh on the topic of zebrafish, and how DanioVision contributes to this field.
A new zebrafish model for ALS-related gene mutations

A new zebrafish model for ALS-related gene mutations

How zebrafish are helping us to discover the mechanisms behind this neurodegenerative disease.
 
Ready to kick start your research?
Want better insights and faster results? Contact us now to learn how we can help you!

Email address *

Organization *

Country *

Privacy policy *

Information and updates

I would like to receive high-quality content produced by Noldus that is relevant for me, such as blogs, product updates, customer stories, and events.