The Behavioral Space of Zebrafish Locomotion and Its Neural Network Analog.

ABSTRACT: How simple is the underlying control mechanism for the complex locomotion of vertebrates? We explore this question for the swimming behavior of zebrafish larvae. A parameter-independent method, similar to that used in studies of worms and flies, is applied to analyze swimming movies of fish. The motion itself yields a natural set of fish "eigenshapes" as coordinates, rather than the experimenter imposing a choice of coordinates. Three eigenshape coordinates are sufficient to construct a quantitative "postural space" that captures >96% of the observed zebrafish locomotion. Viewed in postural space, swim bouts are manifested as trajectories consisting of cycles of shapes repeated in succession. To classify behavioral patterns quantitatively and to understand behavioral variations among an en

SUBMITTER: Girdhar K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4489106 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature