Loss of the Habenula Intrinsic Neuromodulator Kisspeptin1 Affects Learning in Larval Zebrafish.

ABSTRACT: Learning how to actively avoid a predictable threat involves two steps: recognizing the cue that predicts upcoming punishment and learning a behavioral response that will lead to avoidance. In zebrafish, ventral habenula (vHb) neurons have been proposed to participate in both steps by encoding the expected aversiveness of a stimulus. vHb neurons increase their firing rate as expectation of punishment grows but reduce their activity as avoidance learning occurs. This leads to changes in the activity of raphe neurons, which are downstream of the vHb, during learning. How vHb activity is regulated is not known. Here, we ask whether the neuromodulator Kisspeptin1, which is expressed in the ventral habenula together with its receptor, could be involved. Kiss1 mutants were generated with CRISPR/

SUBMITTER: Lupton C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5437413 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May-Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature