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Comparative behavior. Anxiety-like behavior in crayfish is controlled by serotonin.

Pascal Fossat¹, Julien Bacqué-Cazenave¹, Philippe De Deurwaerdère²

¹Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5287, Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France.

Science (New York, N.Y.)

|June 14, 2014

Summary

Crayfish exhibit anxiety-like behavior after stress, avoiding light and showing increased brain serotonin. This suggests conserved anxiety mechanisms across species, offering insights into invertebrate emotions.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Animal Behavior
Evolutionary Biology

Background:

Anxiety is a stress response observed in vertebrates but not well-characterized in invertebrates.
Understanding anxiety's evolutionary roots can illuminate its fundamental mechanisms.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate anxiety-like behaviors in invertebrates, specifically crayfish.
To explore the neurochemical basis and evolutionary conservation of anxiety.

Main Methods:

Crayfish were exposed to stress and their behavior in an aquatic plus-maze was observed.
Brain serotonin levels were measured, and the effects of chlordiazepoxide (a benzodiazepine anxiolytic) were assessed.

Main Results:

Stressed crayfish exhibited avoidance of illuminated areas, indicative of anxiety.
This behavior correlated with elevated brain serotonin levels.
Chlordiazepoxide administration reversed the anxiety-like behavior in stressed crayfish and serotonin-induced avoidance in unstressed crayfish.

Conclusions:

Crayfish display anxiety-like behavior, suggesting conserved neurobiological mechanisms for anxiety across vertebrates and invertebrates.
This study provides evidence for the evolutionary conservation of anxiety and offers a model for studying its ancestral origins.