Learning in zebrafish

My proposed research program is aimed at clarifying the capacity, development, and structural underpinnings of olfactory learning in zebrafish. The small size, relative transparency, and genetic tractability of these animals have made zebrafish widely used models for study of vertebrate development. These qualities also offer advantages for various aspects of neurobiological research, but until now there has been rather little description of learning in zebrafish, so use of these animals for study of brain mechanisms of memory has been relatively limited. We have recently been able to obtain rapid and robust olfactory learning in adult zebrafish, using a behavioural task we developed in which the animals' ability to discriminate odors is exploited to train them to associate specific novel odors with availability of food rewards; learning is assessed in terms of frequency of turning, swim trajectory, and latency to ingest the reward. With the aid of this grant, we will extend these behavioural studies, and combine them with tools of pharmacology, molecular biology and neurochemical anatomy, to identify the principal brain structures and pathways activated when fish learn to associate specific odors with food reward. We will also investigate the possible correlation between development of these structures and of these learning capacities. The results will be used to inform and constrain subsequent electrophysiological and optical investigations, as well as computational models of learning and memory. Overall, this work should contribute significantly to our understanding of how memory develops and functions, with implications for neurology and computer science as well.