Different housing conditions for zebrafish: What are the effects?

Zebrafish is a popular experimental model in several research areas but little is known about the effects of using different strains or housing conditions. Poor control of genetic background and housing conditions could affect experimental results and data reproducibility. Here we investigated the effects of two possible sources of variation on zebrafish behaviour: fish origin and environmental parameters (light intensity, water temperature and noise).

Variation in nest building, aggression, learning, and steroid hormone levels in Betta splendens.

Individuals within a population present behavioral responses that vary according to intrinsic and extrinsic factors such as ontogenetic phase, nutritional status, reproductive stage, and previous experiences. These differences can be explained by endogenous changes, such as hormone release, that can modulate reproductive behaviors, stress response, and cognitive processes. In order to investigate the relationship between behavior and hormonal levels in the fighting fish Betta splendens, the present study characterized nest building, aggressive behavior, learning of a task, and levels of cortisol and 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT) in 86 male Fighting fish.

Native and non-native species of Litopenaeus Pérez-Farfante, 1969 (Crustacea: Penaeidae) from the East Atlantic: Geometric morphometrics as a tool for taxonomic discrimination.

The shape of the secondary sexual characters is, traditionally, used to discriminate the marine shrimps at the species level. However, the qualitative evaluation of structures that are morphologically variable in the taxonomy of species can favor misunderstandings and misidentifications. These possibilities of taxonomic inaccuracies are especially alarming when there is a need to evaluate the invasion of introduced species.

Filling biogeographic gaps about the shrimp Farfantepenaeus isabelae Tavares amp; Gusmão, 2016 (Decapoda: Penaeidae) in South America.

Farfantepenaeus isabelae is a recently described pink shrimp species with occurrence restricted to the South Atlantic. The real geographic distribution of this species is still uncertain, probably due to difficulties on identification in relation to congeners. The present study aims to increase the knowledge about its occurrence by using an integrative approach with morphology, molecular and niche modeling analysis.

Cortisol Modulation by Ayahuasca in Patients With Treatment Resistant Depression and Healthy Controls.

Major depression is a highly prevalent mood disorder, affecting about 350 million people, and around 30% of the patients are resistant to currently available antidepressant medications. Recent evidence from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) supports the rapid antidepressant effects of the psychedelic ayahuasca in treatment-resistant depression. The aim of this study was to explore the effect of ayahuasca on plasma cortisol and awakening salivary cortisol response, in the same group of treatment-resistant patients (MD) and in healthy volunteers (C).

Behavioral Changes Over Time Following Ayahuasca Exposure in Zebrafish.

The combined infusion of stem and leaves, known as ayahuasca, has been used for centuries by indigenous tribes. The infusion is rich in , -dimethyltryptamine (DMT) and monoamine oxidase inhibitors, with properties similar to those of serotonin. Despite substantial progress in the development of new drugs to treat anxiety and depression, current treatments have several limitations.