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Analyzing the Effect of Age, Time of the Day and the Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae
Tagkalidou, N.; Multisanti, C.R.; Bleda, M.J.; Bedrossiantz, J.; Prats, E.; Faggio, C.; Barata, C.; Raldúa, D. Analyzing the Effects of Age, Time of Day, and Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae. Toxics2024, 12, 349.
Tagkalidou, N.; Multisanti, C.R.; Bleda, M.J.; Bedrossiantz, J.; Prats, E.; Faggio, C.; Barata, C.; Raldúa, D. Analyzing the Effects of Age, Time of Day, and Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae. Toxics 2024, 12, 349.
Tagkalidou, N.; Multisanti, C.R.; Bleda, M.J.; Bedrossiantz, J.; Prats, E.; Faggio, C.; Barata, C.; Raldúa, D. Analyzing the Effects of Age, Time of Day, and Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae. Toxics2024, 12, 349.
Tagkalidou, N.; Multisanti, C.R.; Bleda, M.J.; Bedrossiantz, J.; Prats, E.; Faggio, C.; Barata, C.; Raldúa, D. Analyzing the Effects of Age, Time of Day, and Experiment on the Basal Locomotor Activity and Light-Off Visual Motor Response Assays in Zebrafish Larvae. Toxics 2024, 12, 349.
Abstract
The recent availability of commercial platforms for behavioral analysis in zebrafish larvae based on video-tracking technologies has exponentially increased the number of studies analyzing different behaviors in this model organism to assess neurotoxicity. Among the most commonly used assays in zebrafish larvae are basal locomotor activity (BLA) and visual motor response (VMR). However, the effect of different intrinsic and extrinsic factors that can significantly alter the outcome of these assays is still not well understood. In this work we have analyzed in 143 larvae the influence of age (5-8 days post-fertilization), time of day (8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 14:00; 16:00, 18:00, and 20:00 h), and experiment (three experiments performed at different days) on BLA and VMR results (4,004 analyses for each behavior). Results from both behaviors were adjusted to a Random-Effects linear regression model using generalized least squares (GLS), including in the model the effect of the three variables, the second-way interactions between them and the three-way interaction. The results presented in this manuscript show a specific effect of all three intrinsic factors and their interactions on both behaviors, supporting the view that the most stable time period for performing these behavioral assays is from 10:00 am to 04:00 pm, with some differences depending on age of the larva and the behavioral test.
Keywords
zebrafish larvae; behavioral analysis; intrinsic factors; age; time of day; experiment; basal locomotor activity; visual motor response
Subject
Biology and Life Sciences, Behavioral Sciences
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.