Efeitos do álcool e do enriquecimento ambiental na aprendizagem e no comportamento tipo ansioso em peixe Paulistinha

Abstract

Alcoholic beverages are popularly consumed in various human cultures. However, excessive and long-term alcohol consumption can promote social, physical and psychological damages that are difficult to reverse. In fact, alcohol has different effects on the body. Low concentrations promote euphoria, relaxation, and stress/anxiety relief (anxiolytic effect), and abstinence after chronic medial doses increases stress / anxiety (anxiety) and may interfere with learning. However, there is little information on how this drug alters cognitive and psychological aspects in stress/anxiety situations involving learning. Therefore, in-depth investigations are required with the proposition of translational animal models. As a result, characteristics such as: easy maintenance and reproduction in the laboratory, genetic homology up to 70% to that of the human genome, and ease of administration of drugs, make zebrafish (Danio rerio) an ideal model in translational research involving drugs of abuse. In this sense, the present study sought to investigate the effect of different alcoholic treatments (chronic and acute) in the unfolding of the anxiety response and in the aversive associative learning of zebrafish.For this, the effects of alcohol in the aversive associative learning of zebrafish (manuscript 1) and the effects of alcohol and environmental enrichment (EE) on the impossibility of the fish to avoid a stressor were tested (manuscript 2). The results indicated that anxiety-like behaviors in zebrafish are altered by changes in alcoholic concentrations, in the exposure regime or in the environment. Acute alcohol increases anxiety and potentiates the electroshock perception. While EE promotes anxiolytic effect and decreases the perception of electroshock. Finally, we suggest that this work serves as a basis for genetic and behavioral neurophysiological research regarding the effects of the interaction between drugs of abuse and environment.