Abstract
Adverse experiences during childhood have been the focus of a series of studies due to the psychological damage observed in individuals who suffered abuse during their youth. Studies with model animals that can mimic these observations can significantly contribute to understanding the mechanisms behind this phenomenon. In our experiments, young zebrafish (20 dpf) were exposed to aggressive alcoholized male adults for 30 min for 10 days. At 30 dpf, the animals were tested for shoal formation, and at 60 dpf, locomotion and aggression were evaluated. Animals that suffered oppression from adults showed greater group cohesion and lower attack emission and higher distance from the image in the mirror test. Locomotor parameters were not changed. These results show that the stress caused by aggression exposure in the juvenile phase led to increased fear and avoidance behavior later in life. Moreover, we confirm the importance of the zebrafish as a sensitive tool for studies on the effects of early mistreatment and its consequences to adult behavior.
Highlights
Traumatic experiences during childhood, such as physical and sexual abuse, helplessness, and mistreatment, are worldwide concerns
We evaluated the effects of the stress caused by several encounters with an aggressive adult fish under the effect of alcohol on zebrafish behavior
The results obtained from group cohesion show that handling stress and social stress could trigger significant behavioral changes in young zebrafish
Summary
Traumatic experiences during childhood, such as physical and sexual abuse, helplessness, and mistreatment, are worldwide concerns. Some studies are dedicated to understanding how stress in the juvenile phase can alter adult behavior in humans (Anda et al, 2006; Heim et al, 2008; Bale et al, 2010; Meewisse et al, 2011; Pechtel and Pizzagalli, 2011), studies using animal models to test the correlation between adverse experiences during early developmental phases and the behavioral consequences in adulthood are less representative (Shams et al, 2018; Aponte and Petrunich-Rutherford, 2019). The few studies approaching juvenile stress consequences have pointed to anxiety and stress disorders, depression development, and increased suicide attempts in adulthood (Morgan et al, 2003; Kausch et al, 2006; Weich et al, 2009).
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