Whole-brain mechanisms of delay and trace conditioning in larval zebrafish

Abstract

"Classical conditioning—the association between two stimuli, in which one predicts the occurrence of the other—is a fundamental form of associative learning and a powerful framework for investigating the neural basis of prediction and memory. This thesis presents the development and systematic refinement of a classical conditioning paradigm in larval zebrafish, designed for compatibility with in vivo high-resolution whole- brain imaging and capable of probing both delay and trace conditioning. The paradigm employs an aversive unconditioned stimulus (US) via optovin- induced activation of TRPA1b channels, paired with a visual conditioned stimulus (CS) in head-restrained larvae. (...)"