Identification of a brain center whose activity discriminates a choice behavior in zebrafish

The ability to make choices and carry out appropriate actions is critical for individual survival and well-being. Choice behaviors, from hard-wired to experience-dependent, have been observed across the animal kingdom. Although differential engagement of sensory neuronal pathways is a known mechanis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2011-02, Vol.108 (6), p.2581-2586
Main Authors: Lau, Billy Y.B, Mathur, Priya, Gould, Georgianna G, Guo, Su
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal behavior
Animal cognition
Animals
Antianxiety agents
Behavior, Animal - physiology
Behavioral neuroscience
Biological Sciences
Brain
Brain Mapping
Choice Behavior - physiology
Danio rerio
Freshwater
Genes
Mental stimulation
Neurons
Observed choices
Physiological stimulation
Sensory Receptor Cells - physiology
Telencephalon - physiology
Teleostei
Visual acuity
Visual Perception - physiology
Visual stimulation
Zebrafish
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Summary:The ability to make choices and carry out appropriate actions is critical for individual survival and well-being. Choice behaviors, from hard-wired to experience-dependent, have been observed across the animal kingdom. Although differential engagement of sensory neuronal pathways is a known mechanism, neurobiological substrates in the brain that underlie choice making downstream of sensory perception are not well understood. Here, we report a behavioral paradigm in zebrafish in which a half-light/half-dark visual image evokes an innate choice behavior, light avoidance. Neuronal activity mapping using the immediate early gene c-fos reveals the engagement of distinct brain regions, including the medial zone of the dorsal telencephalic region (Dm) and the dorsal nucleus of the ventral telencephalic area (Vd), the teleost anatomical homologs of the mammalian amygdala and striatum, respectively. In animals that were subjected to the identical sensory stimulus but displayed little or no avoidance, strikingly, the Dm and Vd were not engaged, despite similar levels of activation in the brain nuclei involved in visual processing. Based on these findings and previous connectivity data, we propose a neural circuitry model in which the Dm serves as a brain center, the activity of which predicates this choice behavior in zebrafish.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.1018275108