For the first time, researchers have observed the thought “swimming” inside the brain of a live fish. The new technology used could be a powerful tool for perception studies, according to the authors in the journalCurrent Biology.
“This is the first time that someone has been able to show brain activity in real time in a living animal that acts spontaneously in its natural environment,” explains Koichi Kawakami, a researcher at the National Institute of Genetics of Japan and co-author of the work. “Nowwe can make visible what was invisible: That is the most important”.
The authors used the new tool, based on a fluorescent probe, torecord neuronal activity at unicellular resolutionin the brain of a zebra fish as it detected something “appetizing” to eat, in this case a paramecium swimming by its side. In addition, they also analyzed brain activity during the moment of capture.
The new tool will make it possible to study the brain circuits involved in complex behaviors, from perception to movement, as well as the decision-making process. In the future “we will be able to interpret learning and memory, fear, fun or anger based on the activity of specific combinations of neurons,” Kawakami predicted. And since it also allows testing of chemicals that affect neuron activity in a living animal, the technique could helpspeed up the search and development process for psychiatric medications.
