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Boldness, Aggression, and Shoaling Assays for Zebrafish Behavioral Syndromes
Published on: August 29, 2016
Ketamine modulates aggressive behavior in adult zebrafish
Paula Michelotti1, Vanessa A Quadros1, Maria E Pereira2
1Laboratory of Experimental Neuropsychobiology, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Natural and Exact Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil; Graduate Program in Biological Sciences: Toxicological Biochemistry, Federal University of Santa Maria, 1000 Roraima Avenue, Santa Maria, RS 97105-900, Brazil.
Abstract:
Ketamine is a non-competitive glutamatergic antagonist that induces analgesia and anesthesia. Although ketamine displays anxiolytic and antidepressant properties, it may induce pro-psychosis and hallucinogen effects, as well as stereotypic behaviors following acute administration at sub-anesthetic doses. Since heightened aggression is maladaptive and may comorbid with various neuropsychiatric disorders, we aimed to investigate whether ketamine modulates aggressive behavior in adult zebrafish. Fish were acutely exposed to 2, 20, and 40 mg/L ketamine for 20 min and their locomotion, exploratory activity, and aggression towards mirror were further assessed. Ketamine (2 mg/L) increased aggression-related phenotypes, while 20 and 40 mg/L reduced aggression and elicited stereotypic behaviors by causing hyperlocomotion, altering motor patterns, and increasing circling behavior at the higher concentration tested. Collectively, our data expand the utility of zebrafish models to investigate the influence of sub-anesthetic concentrations of ketamine on aggression behavior domain in translational neuropsychiatric research field.
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