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Submission Type
Pre-recorded Research Talk
Area of Study or Work
Neuroscience
Faculty Advisor
Brad Sheese
Expected Graduation Date
2021
Start Date
4-10-2021 8:00 AM
End Date
4-11-2021 5:00 PM
Abstract
Zebrafish are commonly used as model organisms in neuroscience research. Zebrafish have been shown to be capable of learning through operant conditioning. The objective of the proposed study is to examine the effects of alcohol on associative learning. Zebrafish were randomly assigned to different ethanol concentrations: no ethanol, low dose ethanol (6mL), and high dose ethanol (12 mL). Locomotion was observed and recorded during four different time periods: 10 minutes of acclimation, 10 minutes of baseline, 10 minutes of training, and 60 minutes of testing. During the training period, zebrafish learned to avoid shock by swimming on one side of the tank. During the testing period, we examined the persistence of this learned behavior. Our analysis indicates that fish exposed to greater concentrations of ethanol had more difficulties learning the conditioned behavior as reflected in patterns in freezing, triggering shock, and speed of locomotion during both the training and testing period.
Effects of Acute Ethanol Exposure on Learning in Zebrafish
Zebrafish are commonly used as model organisms in neuroscience research. Zebrafish have been shown to be capable of learning through operant conditioning. The objective of the proposed study is to examine the effects of alcohol on associative learning. Zebrafish were randomly assigned to different ethanol concentrations: no ethanol, low dose ethanol (6mL), and high dose ethanol (12 mL). Locomotion was observed and recorded during four different time periods: 10 minutes of acclimation, 10 minutes of baseline, 10 minutes of training, and 60 minutes of testing. During the training period, zebrafish learned to avoid shock by swimming on one side of the tank. During the testing period, we examined the persistence of this learned behavior. Our analysis indicates that fish exposed to greater concentrations of ethanol had more difficulties learning the conditioned behavior as reflected in patterns in freezing, triggering shock, and speed of locomotion during both the training and testing period.
Comments
The slide for this presentation are linked in a pdf below.