One of the main limitations of using small fish, like zebrafish, for learning tests is the high levels of stress experienced by a single individual when placed in novel conditions. Therefore, it would be better to use larger fish, such as Cichlids as they show fewer signs of distress in novel conditions. A study in Behavioural Brain Research validates a learning protocol using the T-maze test to study cognition in Maylandia callainos. First, the team tested the capability to learn in contextual conditioning tasks. Then, the task was validated for studying cognition using drugs to manipulate learning. Here, MK-801, a known amnesic drug, decreased maze learning performance compared to control animals. Conversely, animals exposed to caffeine were more precise at the beginning of the learning regime compared to control animals. However, there was no difference in memory retrieval. These results show a validated color preference learning paradigm for M. callainos, enhancing the toolset available for cognition research in fish.

Original reference: Gedzu, V.R. et al. Behav. Brain Res. 471,115077 (2024)

使用斑马鱼等小鱼进行学习测试的主要限制之一是，当一个人处于新环境中时，会承受高水平的压力。因此，最好使用较大的鱼，例如 Cichlids，因为它们在新条件下表现出的痛苦迹象较少。Behavioural Brain Research 上的一项研究验证了使用 T 型迷宫测试来研究 Maylandia callainos 认知的学习方案。首先，该团队测试了在情境条件反射任务中学习的能力。然后，该任务被验证为使用药物纵学习来研究认知。在这里，与对照动物相比，MK-801 是一种已知的失忆药物，它降低了迷宫学习性能。相反，与对照动物相比，暴露于咖啡因的动物在学习制度开始时更加精确。但是，内存检索没有差异。这些结果显示了经过验证的 M. callainos 颜色偏好学习范式，增强了可用于鱼类认知研究的工具集。

原始参考资料：Gedzu， V.R. 等人。大脑研究。471,115077 （2024）