Assessment of general locomotor activity and anxiety in zebrafish (Danio rerio) in the light-dark box (tank), the shoaling test, in the novel tank and the open field tests

Abstract

Anxiety is a complex and multifaceted neurobehavioral disorder that includes various forms of chronic pathological anxiety and fears, and is also the cause for various comorbid pathologies, such as depression or cardiovascular diseases. Behavioral testing of various model organisms, including the zebrafish (Danio rerio), is widely used to study neurobiological mechanisms of anxiety. Here, we discuss the novel tank test, the open field test, light-dark box and shoaling test that are widely used in translational biological psychiatry to characterize anxiety-related behavioral phenotypes in zebrafish.