title: Comparative behavior. Anxiety-like behavior in crayfish is controlled by serotonin.
abstract: Anxiety, a behavioral consequence of stress, has been characterized in humans and some vertebrates, but not invertebrates. Here, we demonstrate that after exposure to stress, crayfish sustainably avoided the aversive illuminated arms of an aquatic plus-maze. This behavior was correlated with an increase in brain serotonin and was abolished by the injection of the benzodiazepine anxiolytic chlordiazepoxide. Serotonin injection into unstressed crayfish induced avoidance; again, this effect was reversed by injection with chlordiazepoxide. Our results demonstrate that crayfish exhibit a form of anxiety similar to that described in vertebrates, suggesting the conservation of several underlying mechanisms during evolution. Analyses of this ancestral behavior in a simple model reveal a new route to understanding anxiety and may alter our conceptions of the emotional status of invertebrates.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5287, Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Pascal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fossat
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5287, Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bacqué-Cazenave
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. CNRS, UMR 5293, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives, Rue Léo Saignat, F-33076 Bordeaux, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: De Deurwaerdère
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5287, Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Paul
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Delbecque
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Science and Health, Université de Bordeaux, 33 076 Bordeaux Cedex, France. Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), UMR 5287, Institut des Neurosciences Cognitives et Intégratives d'Aquitaine, Avenue des Facultés, F-33405 Talence Cedex, France. daniel.cattaert@u-bordeaux.fr.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cattaert
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001007:Anxiety / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism*; D003400:Astacoidea / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000494:pharmacology; D005075:Biological Evolution; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018782:Maze Learning; D012701:Serotonin / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001569:Benzodiazepines; D012701:Serotonin