Abstract
Fear can sometimes paralyze us, and it can sometimes be exciting; for some people, fear is so crippling it can significantly mix up their lives. We understand a little bit about how the brain acts when we are afraid, mainly by studying the brains of animals. Recently, surprising findings were made using a humble animal, the zebrafish—a small aquarium fish that, in the past, has helped scientists figure out how our organs develop. Zebrafish are useful because they develop quickly, reproduce easily, and have brains that are similar to ours. They also produce what we call an “alarm substance” that alerts their shoalmates when one of them has been injured. When nearby zebrafish smell this substance in the water, they act as if they are very scared. At the same time, they release a substance called serotonin in their brains, which acts as a light switch, making them less afraid but more cautious—as if they are trying to figure out if a predator is close by or not. Hopefully, finding out more about how zebrafish brains process this serotonin signal will help scientists develop better treatments for mental disorders that are associated with fear.
Highlights
Fear can sometimes paralyze us, and it can sometimes be exciting; for some people, fear is so crippling it can significantly mix up their lives
Frightened Fish out more about how zebrafish brains process this serotonin signal will help scientists develop better treatments for mental disorders that are associated with fear
We know a little bit about fear from studying humans—for example, by using neuroimaging to try to figure out what is going in the brains of people while they are feeling scared (Figure 1)—but this is not an easy task
Summary
Maryana Pereira Pyterson 1, Pedro de Tarcio Guedes 2, Saulo Rivera Ikeda 2, Tainá Dias, Wilker Nascimento 2, Monica Gomes Lima-Maximino 2 and Caio Maximino 1*. Surprising findings were made using a humble animal, the zebrafish—a small aquarium fish that, in the past, has helped scientists figure out how our organs develop. Zebrafish are useful because they develop quickly, reproduce and have brains that are similar to ours. They produce what we call an “alarm substance” that alerts their shoalmates when one of them has been injured. They release a substance called serotonin in their brains, which acts as a light switch, making them less afraid but more cautious—as if they are trying to figure out if a predator is close by or not. Frightened Fish out more about how zebrafish brains process this serotonin signal will help scientists develop better treatments for mental disorders that are associated with fear. ANXIETY The feeling of being extremely nervous when expecting something bad to happen
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