This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
A major unsolved problem in science is how the brain stores and recalls information. While significant progress has been made in recent decades, much work remains to be done in order to achieve a complete understanding the neural basis of learning and memory. A significant impediment toward such an understanding is the vast complexity of the mammalian brain. For this reason it would be useful to develop a simpler model system in which to study fundamental biological mechanisms of learning and memory. During the project behavioral and electrophysiological investigations of simple forms of learning in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) will be carried out. The zebrafish, although a vertebrate organism, exhibits several reflexive behaviors that are mediated by relatively simple neuronal circuits in its hindbrain and spinal cord. The project will focus on the startle reflex in the larval zebrafish. Attempts will be made to identify specific changes in the central nervous system of the zebrafish, particularly changes in the strength of synaptic connections between neurons that mediate three basic forms of learning: habituation, sensitization and classical conditioning. The underlying motivation of these investigations is that an understanding of the neural basis of learning in the larval zebrafish will provide important insights into learning and memory in more complex organisms, including humans. The project will provide unique training opportunities for a postdoctoral investigator, as well as for undergraduate students working in the laboratory.
