RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Cerebellar-Dependent Learning in Larval Zebrafish
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 8708
OP 8712
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.6565-10.2011
VO 31
IS 24
A1 Aizenberg, Mark
A1 Schuman, Erin M.
YR 2011
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/31/24/8708.abstract
AB Understanding how neuronal network activity contributes to memory formation is challenged by the complexity of most brain circuits and the restricted ability to monitor the activity of neuronal populations in vivo. The developing zebrafish (Danio rerio) is an animal model that circumvents these problems, because zebrafish larvae possess a rich behavioral repertoire and an accessible brain. Here, we developed a classical conditioning paradigm in which 6- to 8-d-old larvae develop an enhanced motor response to a visual stimulus (conditioned stimulus, CS) when it is paired with touch (unconditioned stimulus, US). Using in vivo calcium imaging we demonstrate that CS and US activate different subsets of neurons in the cerebellum; their activity, modulated by learning two-photon laser ablation, revealed that the cerebellum is involved in acquisition and extinction, but not the retention, of this memory.