Behavioral and Pharmacological Aspects of Anxiety in the Light/Dark Preference Test
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Some teleost fish present scototaxis, a tendency to search for dark places and avoid brightly lit spaces. In zebrafish, it
has been proposed that scototaxis (preference for dark environments) is a model of anxiety. In this chapter, we discuss some
evidence regarding that proposal, and present a standardized protocol for assessing the effect of drugs on scototaxis and
associated variables using a two-compartment, light–dark preference tank. This task represents a sensitive and reliable test
of anxiolytic and anxiogenic drugs, being able to discriminate sedative or psychomotor effects, as well as panicolytic vs.
anxiolytic effects.
