Comparing consistency of stress and anxiety-related behaviors across time in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Advisor Information
Ryan Wong
Location
Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
Presentation Type
Poster
Start Date
3-3-2017 2:15 PM
End Date
3-3-2017 3:30 PM
Abstract
Animals are frequently faced with stressors in their environment that they must overcome to survive and reproduce. Across vertebrates, two distinct stress coping styles or ‘personalities’ have been observed known as proactive (bold) and reactive (shy). Animal personalities may be advantageous by limiting individual variation and balancing different trade-offs in unpredictable environments. When identifying animal personalities, behavioral phenotypes must be consistent and repeatable across contexts and time. Here we use selectively bred lines of shy and bold zebrafish, previously shown to have consistent divergent fear- and anxiety-related behaviors across contexts, to test the repeatability and consistency of these behaviors across time exploring a novel environment. We find that each strain displays significantly different amounts of stationary time in the open field test. Overall the zebrafish personalities were highly repeatable across a 5 week period. Selectively bred individuals were more consistent than a wild caught strain with shy being more consistent than bold. We also examined the effects of sex on these behaviors. Contrary to prior studies, there were no significant differences in freezing time between sexes, though males and females were relatively consistent with females slightly higher. These results show the usefulness of our selectively-bred lines for animal personality research and specifically stress and anxiety-like behaviors. Differences in repeatability or consistency between coping styles may reflect the degree of selection being placed on individuals or the specific behavior.
Comparing consistency of stress and anxiety-related behaviors across time in zebrafish (Danio rerio)
Dr. C.C. and Mabel L. Criss Library
Animals are frequently faced with stressors in their environment that they must overcome to survive and reproduce. Across vertebrates, two distinct stress coping styles or ‘personalities’ have been observed known as proactive (bold) and reactive (shy). Animal personalities may be advantageous by limiting individual variation and balancing different trade-offs in unpredictable environments. When identifying animal personalities, behavioral phenotypes must be consistent and repeatable across contexts and time. Here we use selectively bred lines of shy and bold zebrafish, previously shown to have consistent divergent fear- and anxiety-related behaviors across contexts, to test the repeatability and consistency of these behaviors across time exploring a novel environment. We find that each strain displays significantly different amounts of stationary time in the open field test. Overall the zebrafish personalities were highly repeatable across a 5 week period. Selectively bred individuals were more consistent than a wild caught strain with shy being more consistent than bold. We also examined the effects of sex on these behaviors. Contrary to prior studies, there were no significant differences in freezing time between sexes, though males and females were relatively consistent with females slightly higher. These results show the usefulness of our selectively-bred lines for animal personality research and specifically stress and anxiety-like behaviors. Differences in repeatability or consistency between coping styles may reflect the degree of selection being placed on individuals or the specific behavior.