Dopaminergic and serotonergic modulation of social reward appraisal in zebrafish (Danio rerio) under circumstances of motivational conflict: towards a screening test for anti-compulsive drug action.

Dopaminergic and serotonergic modulation of social reward appraisal in zebrafish (Danio rerio) under circumstances of motivational conflict: towards a screening test for anti-compulsive drug action. Behav Brain Res. 2019 Nov 27;:112393 Authors: van Staden C, de Brouwer G, Botha TL, Finger-Baier K, Brand SJ, Wolmarans D Abstract Cognitive flexibility, shown to be impaired in patients presenting with compulsions, is dependent on balanced dopaminergic and serotonergic interaction. Towards the development of a zebrafish (Danio rerio) screening test for anti-compulsive drug action, we manipulated social reward appraisal under different contexts by means of dopaminergic (apomorphine) and serotonergic (escitalopram) intervention. Seven groups of zebrafish (n = 6 per group) were exposed for 24 days (1 h per day) to either control (normal tank water), apomorphine (50 or 100 μ g/L), escitalopram (500 or 1000 μ g/L) or a combination (A100/E500 or A100/E1000 μ g/L). Contextual reward appraisal was assessed over three phases i.e. Phase 1 (contingency association), Phase 2 (dissociative testing), and Phase 3 (re-associative testing). We demonstrate that 1) sight of social conspecifics is an inadequate motivational reinforcer under circumstances of motivational conflict, 2) dopaminergic and serotonergic intervention lessens the importance of an aversive stimulus, increasing the motivational valence of social reward, 3) while serotoninergic int...
Source: Behavioural Brain Research - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Behav Brain Res Source Type: research
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