MacEwan University Psychology Department uses Zebrafish to study anxiety
Decreasing Anxiety, One Fish at a Time
MacEwan University is trying to make fish anxious. Dr. Trevor Hamilton, a professor at MU and his team are attempting to selectively breed zebrafish to have different levels of anxiety. The anxious fish will help test the effects of select drugs.
In the past, Hamilton and his team have micro-dosed fish with LSD and the effects of infrasound on anxiety for the zebrafish. In past research they have tested cannabis terpenes on the fish. In that study, they found there was a decrease in anxiety when using terpenes on the fish.
Now, they’re turning to selective breeding for high and low anxiety in fish.
“The goal is to come up with a model of a generalized anxiety disorder in fish,” Hamilton said in an interview with MacEwan University. If there is a model of anxiety in fish, the teams can study the impact of certain drugs on high anxiety versus low anxiety groups.
Hamilton has helped build MacEwan’s zebrafish lab. The tests that have been done have led to groundbreaking discoveries in neurological research.
Zebrafish are becoming the third most popular animal for science related testing. They’re practical because they are easy to house, easy to feed and easy to maintain. They’re also easy to identify if they’re anxious.
Hamilton also credits the students he works with for the help with the groundbreaking research that is coming from the testing, He also credits their help with his winning of the Dr. Sherrill Brown Distinguished Research Award:
“It made me very proud of all of the students who’ve contributed to my research over the last decade, because it was really a lot of their blood, sweat and tears (so to speak) that produced the data that has led to a lot of great science,” said Hamilton.
“It’s really fun seeing students progress, learn, think through scientific problems, present their work and become experts.”
