Description du projet
L’apprentissage associatif chez le poisson-zèbre
La plupart des espèces associent des expériences et des stimuli spécifiques à des réponses données, un processus d’apprentissage indispensable qui leur permet de s’adapter et de survivre. Le projet ViCoZe, financé par l’UE, entend étudier plus en détail les deux catégories de cet apprentissage associatif chez le poisson-zèbre. Il combinera des expériences comportementales avec des analyses biochimiques et neurologiques ainsi qu’avec la génétique afin de déchiffrer les réactions cérébrales, les voies moléculaires et les gènes impliqués dans l’apprentissage. ViCoZe apportera des informations fondamentales sur la cognition susceptibles d’être extrapolées et appliquées à l’homme, et établira par ailleurs des méthodes standardisées à partir de l’étude du poisson-zèbre qui pourront servir à de futures études dans le domaine.
Objectif
The ability to learn and memorize information in a constantly changing environment is essential for survival for most species. Two forms of associative learning have been described, elemental and configural, but despite advances in our understanding of their mechanisms, we are still far from having a detailed view of the difference between these two strategies. For the first time, a systematic comparison of elemental and configural learning will be performed in adult zebrafish tested in an automated setup that I previously developed. By pairing the learning experiments with approaches combining pharmacology, neural imagery, biochemistry and genetics, I will aim at identifying brain areas, molecular pathways, especially those involving dopamine and noradrenaline, and genes involved in both forms of learning. Thanks to this project, I will gain invaluable experience from learning new approaches (particularly HPLC, staining and imaging, and RNA sequencing), and improve myself in project management, supervision, and scientific communication; skills required to develop my own independent line of research.
By exploring cognition in zebrafish, a model with a high genetic homology with human and that possess an evolutionarily conserved brain, the results from this project will have a major impact on the advancement of different research areas such as psychology, medicine and evolution of vertebrates. In addition, by giving open access on the automated tank system to the whole zebrafish field, the project will ensure a standardization of the methods in the future and provide a powerful tool for many other topics using zebrafish.
This project is a unique career opportunity, enhancing my understanding of cognition, and expanding my network to the medical and animal welfare community. This will help me to become a recognised expert in animal cognition in different research areas, and to develop a complete and dynamic research group in the future.
Champ scientifique
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)Coordinateur
405 30 Goeteborg
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