[Behavior analysis of adult zebrafish for the assessment of anxiety, aggression, and sociability]

Various behavior analysis methods have been developed using different animal species to elucidate the pathophysiology of behavioral abnormalities in humans and develop therapeutic agents. The development of behavior analysis methods using zebrafish has also been progressing, and a substantial body of knowledge has been accumulated. In this paper, we introduce the Novel tank test for assessing anxiety, the Mirror biting test for assessing aggression, and the Social interaction test for assessing sociality. These methods are relatively easy to implement in ordinary laboratories. We also discuss the problems associated with behavioral analyses using zebrafish. For example, zebrafish strains frequently used in behavioral analyses are not inbred, such as C57BL/6 in mice and F344 in rats. There are differences among the zebrafish strains in terms of cortisol levels, neural marker expression, and behavior characteristics. The housing and husbandry of zebrafish also vary among laboratories. Standardizing these factors is important to increase the reproducibility and replicability of zebrafish neurobehavioral research. Understanding the characteristics of each method and selecting the appropriate behavior analysis method according to the purpose will facilitate the understanding of the pathophysiology of human diseases and the development of new treatments.