The effects of auditory enrichment on zebrafish behavior and physiology

PeerJ

article

Heloísa H. A. Barcellos¹  Gessi Koakoski³  Fabiele Chaulet⁴  Karina S. Kirsten³  Luiz C. Kreutz²  Allan V. Kalueff⁵  Leonardo J. G. Barcellos¹ 

[1] Programa de Pós-Graduação em Farmacologia, Universidade Federal de Santa Maria;Faculdade de Agronomia e Medicina Veterinária, Universidade de Passo Fundo;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Bioexperimentação, Universidade de Passo Fundo;Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Ambientais, Universidade de Passo Fundo;School of Pharmacy, Chongqing University;Institute of Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University;The International Zebrafish Neuroscience Research Consortium;Research Institute for Marine Drugs and Nutrition, Guangdong Ocean University;Ural Federal University;ZENEREI Research Center;Institute of Experimental Medicine, Almazov National Medical Research Center;Russian Research Center for Radiology and Surgical Technologies;Research Institute of Physiology and Basic Medicine

关键词: Auditory enrichment;    Fish welfare;    Stress;    Anxiety;    Immune genes;    Exploratory behavior;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5162

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

Environmental enrichment is widely used to improve welfare and behavioral performance of animal species. It ensures housing of laboratory animals in environments with space and complexity that enable the expression of their normal behavioral repertoire. Auditory enrichment by exposure to classical music decreases abnormal behaviors and endocrine stress responses in humans, non-humans primates, and rodents. However, little is known about the role of auditory enrichment in laboratory zebrafish. Given the growing importance of zebrafish for neuroscience research, such studies become critical. To examine whether auditory enrichment by classical music can affect fish behavior and physiology, we exposed adult zebrafish to 2 h of Vivaldi’s music (65–75 dB) twice daily, for 15 days. Overall, zebrafish exposed to such auditory stimuli were less anxious in the novel tank test and less active, calmer in the light-dark test, also affecting zebrafish physiological (immune) biomarkers, decreasing peripheral levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and increasing the activity of some CNS genes, without overt effects on whole-body cortisol levels. In summary, we report that twice-daily exposure to continuous musical sounds may provide benefits over the ongoing 50–55 dB background noise of equipment in the laboratory setting. Overall, our results support utilizing auditory enrichment in laboratory zebrafish to reduce stress and improve welfare in this experimental aquatic organism.

【 授权许可】

CC BY