Acronym NA
Category
Aquaculture
Title Fish welfare assessment through brain function: Impacts of environmental stress on brain plasticity and behaviour Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Sigurd Olav Stefansson Coordinator email sigurd.stefansson@ifm.uib.no
Coordinator institution
UiB - University of Bergen (Norway)
Institutions involved
NA
Start year 2009 End year 2012 Funding (€) € 355,505 Website https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/project/FORISS/190469?Kilde=FORISS&distribution=Ar&chart=bar&calcType=funding&Sprak=no&sortBy=date&sortOrder=desc&resultCount=30&offset=0&Prosjektleder=Sigurd+Olav+Stefansson Summary Developing reliable measures of fish welfare is a priority within Norway and the EU. Although fish welfare definitions vary, a key aim is to provide environments that minimize stressors that impact health and the animal's mental function. In mammals, prolonged stress can affect brain function to such a degree that specific regions structurally deteriorate. Our goal is to develop assays to identify specific brain alterations related to specific stressors. While brief mild stress can enhance learning and memory, in mammals, chronic or severe stress impairs these processes, decreasing coping ability. These effects are linked to a reduction in neural plasticity in the hippocampus and amygdala, brain regions associated with learning, memory, reward processes and aggressive behaviour. Homologous regions are also found in the fish brain, namely the lateral (Dl) and medial (Dm) telencephalon. Knowledge on the effects of stress on neural plasticity in fish is scarce. The present proposal aims to establish the molecular and functional relationship between environmental stress, neural plasticity, and learning and memory behaviours in salmon. We will focus on chronic mild stress (CMS), in the form of hyperoxia, acid-aluminium (acid-Al), and constant light (LL), as this type of stress is the most difficult to detect using classical methods, and is also the most relevant in aquaculture. We will include a test group implanted with cortisol to determine which CMS effects are cortisol mediated. Following behavioural tests (learning, memory and coping abilities), the fish brains will be sampled for the quantification and localisation of key neural plasticity and stress markers. These studies will provide the basis so that we can employ gene expression fingerprinting through microarray analysis to identify gene specific biomarkers that can be used to evaluate conditions that may impact learning and memory and consequently adaptation and coping ability.
Keywords
Genetic;
Salmon;
Fish biology;
Fish;
Fish health;
Marine Region
76
Not associated to marine areas
0
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