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Conditioned place preference behavior in zebrafish

Nature Protocols volume 6, pages 338–345 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

This protocol describes conditioned place preference (CPP) in zebrafish following a single exposure to a substance. In the CPP paradigm, animals show a preference for an environment that has previously been associated with a substance (drug), thus indicating the positive-reinforcing qualities of that substance. The test tank consists of two visually distinct compartments separated by a central alley. The protocol involves three steps: the determination of initial preference, one conditioning session and the determination of final preference. This procedure is carried out in ∼2 d; other reported CPP protocols take up to 2 weeks. An increase in preference for the drug-associated compartment is observed after a single exposure. Establishment of this high-throughput protocol in zebrafish makes it possible to investigate the molecular and cellular basis of choice behavior, reward and associative learning. The protocol is also a tool for testing psychoactive compounds in the context of a vertebrate brain.

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Figure 1: CPP apparatus.
Figure 2
Figure 3: Conditioned place preference behavior in adult zebrafish.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by grants from the Department of Neurology, Alcohol and Addiction research program at the University of California San Francisco, the Sandler Family Foundation, the Packard Foundation and NIH AA016021.

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Author notes

  1. Billy Lau & Su Guo

    Present address: Present address: Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA.,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Priya Mathur, Billy Lau & Su Guo

  2. Programs in Neuroscience, Genetics, Developmental Biology and Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, California, USA

    Billy Lau & Su Guo

Authors
  1. Priya Mathur
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Contributions

P.M., B.L. and S.G. designed experiments. P.M. and B.L. collected data and carried out data analyses. P.M. and S.G. wrote the paper.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Su Guo.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Mathur, P., Lau, B. & Guo, S. Conditioned place preference behavior in zebrafish. Nat Protoc 6, 338–345 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2010.201

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