zAcademy: an open-source programmable conditioning arena reveals sex- and genotype-dependent avoidance learning in adult zebrafish
Zebrafish are widely used to study learning and memory. Here, we describe zAcademy, a programmable conditioning arena released in full as open hardware and open software. zAcademy combines a 3D-printed dual-chamber arena, bottom-mounted LED matrices that generate visual patterns under software control, graphite rod electrodes gated by an Arduino-controlled relay, an overhead infrared camera, and…
Researchers have introduced zAcademy, a programmable conditioning arena for zebrafish. This open-source hardware and software platform allows for the study of learning and memory in these fish. The arena consists of a 3D-printed dual-chamber tank, LED matrices that display patterns, graphite electrodes controlled by an Arduino system, an infrared camera, and a method for analyzing fish positions.
In a 180-minute experiment, adult zebrafish were conditioned to associate a checkerboard light pattern (the conditioned stimulus) with a mild shock (the unconditioned stimulus). Researchers assessed the fish's avoidance of the light pattern in six separate trials. The first trial immediately after training measured learning, while the subsequent five trials at 30-minute intervals tested memory.
The team found that wild-type zebrafish shifted towards the dark zone (the side of the tank without the light pattern) right after training, while shank3 knockout (KO) fish did not. This shift was primarily driven by female fish rather than males. Notably, among those fish that initially responded, females maintained a higher preference for the dark zone over subsequent trials.
The zAcademy platform offers a cost-effective, customizable solution for comparing behavioral changes in different zebrafish genotypes and sexes.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
