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Updated: Jul 24, 2025
The Optokinetic Response as a Quantitative Measure of Visual Acuity in Zebrafish
Published on: October 9, 2013
Zebrafish optomotor response to second-order motion illustrates that age-related changes in motion detection depend
Aysenur Karaduman1, Elif Tugce Karoglu-Eravsar2, Utku Kaya3
1National Magnetic Resonance Research Center (UMRAM), Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye; Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Program, Aysel Sabuncu Brain Research Center, Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye; Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics Zebrafish Facility, Bilkent University, Ankara, Türkiye.
None:
Various aspects of visual functioning, including motion perception, change with age. Yet, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of age-related alterations at different stages of motion processing and in each motion system. To understand the effects of aging on second-order motion processing, we investigated optomotor responses (OMR) in younger and older wild-type (AB-strain) and acetylcholinesterase (achesb55/+) mutant zebrafish. The mutant fish with decreased levels of acetylcholinesterase have been shown to have delayed age-related cognitive decline. Compared to previous results on first-order motion, we found distinct changes in OMR to second-order motion. The polarity of OMR was dependent on age, such that second-order stimulation led to mainly negative OMR in the younger group while older zebrafish had positive responses. Hence, these findings revealed an overall aging effect on the detection of second-order motion. Moreover, neither the genotype of zebrafish nor the spatial frequency of motion significantly changed the response magnitude. Our findings support the view that age-related changes in motion detection depend on the activated motion system.
