Applying automatic operant boxes for studies on behavioral flexibility in zebrafish

Abstract: In neuroscience, zebrafish can be used as a model organism to study cognitive deficits and human physiology. Previous methods to study behavior in animal models have relied on manual observations, which can lack repeatability, until recently when automatic operant boxes have been developed. Due to the automated testing, automatic operant boxes are a robust method with high throughput and minimal handling which reduce stress in the animal. The aim of this study was to establish and optimize a method and a protocol for studying reversal learning in Zantiks AD units (an automatic operant box). The Zantiks AD unit was controlled by predefined scripts and the purpose of the script was supposed to make the fish associate a visual stimulus with a positive reinforcement, in this study, dry food. Three pilot studies were made, each with one parameter in focus (habituation days, intertrial time and motivation) to see if there was any impact on learning, between two groups. Neither the habituation days (pilot 1) nor the intertrial time (pilot 2) seemed to have a pronounced effect but the impact of motivation (pilot 3) did. The impact of motivation needs to be analyzed further, where different types of food could be compared.