title: Short- and long-term effects of nicotine and the histone deacetylase inhibitor phenylbutyrate on novel object recognition in zebrafish.
abstract: Zebrafish have a sophisticated color- and shape-sensitive visual system, so we examined color cue-based novel object recognition in zebrafish. We evaluated preference in the absence or presence of drugs that affect attention and memory retention in rodents: nicotine and the histone deacetylase inhibitor (HDACi) phenylbutyrate (PhB).
  
  
  
  The objective of this study was to evaluate whether nicotine and PhB affect innate preferences of zebrafish for familiar and novel objects after short- and long-retention intervals.
  
  
  
  We developed modified object recognition (OR) tasks using neutral novel and familiar objects in different colors. We also tested objects which differed with respect to the exploratory behavior they elicited from naïve zebrafish.
  
  
  
  Zebrafish showed an innate preference for exploring red or green objects rather than yellow or blue objects. Zebrafish were better at discriminating color changes than changes in object shape or size. Nicotine significantly enhanced or changed short-term innate novel object preference whereas PhB had similar effects when preference was assessed 24 h after training. Analysis of other zebrafish behaviors corroborated these results.
  
  
  
  Zebrafish were innately reluctant or prone to explore colored novel objects, so drug effects on innate preference for objects can be evaluated changing the color of objects with a simple geometry. Zebrafish exhibited recognition memory for novel objects with similar innate significance. Interestingly, nicotine and PhB significantly modified innate object preference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Physiology and Biophysics (IFIBIO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155 7th floor, C1121ABG, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Faillace
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Physiology and Biophysics (IFIBIO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155 7th floor, C1121ABG, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pisera-Fuster
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Physiology and Biophysics (IFIBIO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155 7th floor, C1121ABG, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: M P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Medrano
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Physiology and Biophysics (IFIBIO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155 7th floor, C1121ABG, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bejarano
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Institute of Physiology and Biophysics (IFIBIO), School of Medicine, University of Buenos Aires, Paraguay 2155 7th floor, C1121ABG, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina. rbernabeu@fmed.uba.ar.
authors.forename: R O
authors.initials: RO
authors.lastname: Bernabeu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects*; D005260:Female; D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D009538:Nicotine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual / Q000187:drug effects*; D010654:Phenylbutyrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000187:drug effects; D013995:Time; D014796:Visual Perception / Q000187:drug effects; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D056572:Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors; D018722:Nicotinic Agonists; D010654:Phenylbutyrates; D009538:Nicotine; C075773:4-phenylbutyric acid
keywords: Attention: perception; Histone deacetylase inhibitor; Nicotine; Object recognition; Zebrafish behavior