Name: using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish
Uploaded: 2010-02-02T18:45:00
Description: Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish at JoVE.com

We thank Ms. Fan Shen for her support to the zebrafish rearing. This is supported by fundings to Dr. Bing Hu (Chinese Academy of Sciences, "Bai Ren Ji Hua", NSFC 30870833 and National Basic Science Program of China, 2009CB941302).
All animal experiments were conducted in accordance with the guidelines and regulations set forth by the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) Animal Resources Center and University Animal Care and Use Committee.

Part I: Construct the OKR apparatus
Details are shown in video demonstration.
Part II: OKR of Adult Zebrafish
If your lab has constructed an OKR apparatus, the key of adult zebrafish OKR is to hold the fish. In this part, we will show you step by step.
Our apparatus composes following parts similar to others mentioned. The circular fish chamber is 7.0 cm in outer diameter, 6.5 cm in inner diameter and 7.0 cm in...

<ol>
	<li>Beck, J., Gilland, E., Tank, D., Baker, R. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Quantifying+the+Ontogeny+of+Optokinetic+and+Vestibuloocular+Behaviors+in+Zebrafish+Medaka,+and+Goldfish.">Quantifying the Ontogeny of Optokinetic and Vestibuloocular Behaviors in Zebrafish Medaka, and Goldfish.</a> J Neurophysiol. 92, 3546-3561 (2004).</li><li>Brockerhoff, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Measuring+the+optokinetic+response+of+zebrafish+larvae.">Measuring the optokinetic response of zebrafish larvae.</a> Nature Protocols. 1, 2448-2451 (2006).</li><li>Emran, F. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=OFF+ganglion+cells+cannot+drive+the+optokinetic+reflex+in+zebrafish.">OFF ganglion cells cannot drive the optokinetic reflex in zebrafish.</a> Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 104, 19126-19131 (2007).</li><li>Rinner, O., Rick, J., Neuhauss, S. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Contrast+Sensitivity,+Spatial+and+Temporal+Tuning+of+the+Larval+Zebrafish+Optokinetic+Response.">Contrast Sensitivity, Spatial and Temporal Tuning of the Larval Zebrafish Optokinetic Response.</a> Investigative Ophthalmology and Visual Science. 46, 137-142 (2005).</li><li>Roeser, T., Baier, H. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Visuomotor+Behaviors+in+Larval+Zebrafish+after+GFP-Guided+Laser+Ablation+of+the+Optic+Tectum.">Visuomotor Behaviors in Larval Zebrafish after GFP-Guided Laser Ablation of the Optic Tectum.</a> The Journal of Neuroscience. 23, 3726-3734 (2003).</li><li>Easter, S., Nicola, G. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=The+Development+of+Vision+in+the+Zebrafish+(Danio+rerio).">The Development of Vision in the Zebrafish (Danio rerio).</a> Developmental Biology. 180, 646-663 (1996).</li><li>Maaswinkel, H., Li, L. <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed&cmd=Search&doptcmdl=Citation&defaultField=Title+Word&term=Spatio-temporal+frequency+characteristics+of+the+optomotor+response+in+zebrafish.">Spatio-temporal frequency characteristics of the optomotor response in zebrafish.</a> Vision Research. 43, 21-30 (2003).</li></ol>

According to the definition of OKR, it is a phenomenon that animals move their eyes to pursue a rotating grating spontaneously. If this behavior has been conducted for a long time (e.g. above 6 hours), the eye muscles may be tired and the OKR will be attenuated.
Adult zebrafish OMR has been described completely by others7. In this video, we just show you this behavior with our apparatus. Once the optic nerves are crushed, they could not follow this grating very well.
<p class=...

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">	
		
		<div>
		<table border="1">
		<thead>
		<tr>
		<th>Material Name</th>
		<th>Type</th>
		<th>Company</th>
		<th>Catalogue Number</th>
		<th>Comment</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tbody>
		
<tr>
<td>Methylcellulose</td>
<td>&nbsp;</td>
<td>Sigma</td>
<td>M6385</td>
<td>Viscosity 25 cP</td>
</tr>		</tbody>
		</table>
		</div>

using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish

Optokinetic response (OKR) is a behavior that an animal vibrates its eyes to follow a rotating grating around it. It has been widely used to assess the visual functions of larval zebrafish1-5. Nevertheless, the standard protocol for larval fish is not yet readily applicable in adult zabrafish. Here, we introduce how to measure the OKR of adult zebrafish with our simple custom-built apparatus using a new protocol which is established in our lab. Both our apparatus and step-by-step procedure of OKR in adult zebrafish are illustrated in this video. In addition, the measurements of the larval OKR, as well as the optomotor response (OMR) test of adult zebrafish, are also demonstrated in this video. This OKR assay of adult zebrafish in our experiment may last for up to 4 hours. Such OKR test applied in adult fish will benefit to visual function investigation more efficiently when the adult fish vision system is manipulated.
Su-Qi Zou and Wu Yin contributed equally to this paper.

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about Using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish at JoVE.com

Using the optokinetic response to study visual function of zebrafish

Optokinetic response has been widely used to assess the visual functions of larval zebrafish. Nevertheless, the standard protocol for larval fish is not yet readily applicable in adults1-5. Here, we introduce how to measure the OKR of adult zebrafish using a new protocol which is established in our lab.

Optokinetic response (OKR) is a behavior that an animal vibrates its eyes to follow a rotating grating around it. It has been widely used to assess the ...

Research

JoVE Journal

Biology

Testing Visual Sensitivity to the Speed and Direction of Motion in Lizards

Testing visual sensitivity in any species provides basic information regarding behaviour, evolution, and ecology. However, testing specific features of ...

Computer-Generated Animal Model Stimuli

Communication between animals is diverse and complex. Animals may communicate using auditory, seismic, chemosensory, electrical, or visual signals. In ...

Microinjection of Zebrafish Embryos to Analyze Gene Function

One of the advantages of studying zebrafish is the ease and speed of manipulating protein levels in the embryo.  Morpholinos, which are synthetic ...

Methods for the Study of the Zebrafish Maxillary Barbel

Barbels are skin sensory appendages found in fishes, reptiles and amphibians.  The zebrafish, Danio rerio, develops two pairs of barbels- a short nasal ...

Hi-C: A Method to Study the Three-dimensional Architecture of Genomes.

The three-dimensional folding of chromosomes compartmentalizes the genome and and can bring distant functional elements, such as promoters and enhancers, ...

Quantification of &gamma;H2AX Foci in Response to Ionising Radiation

Quantification of ÃƒÅ½Ã‚Â³H2AX Foci in Response to Ionising Radiation

DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs), which are induced by either endogenous metabolic processes or by exogenous sources, are one of the most critical DNA ...

Intravenous Microinjections of Zebrafish Larvae to Study Acute Kidney Injury

In this video article we describe a zebrafish model of AKI using gentamicin as the nephrotoxicant.  The technique consists of intravenous microinjections ...

Laser Ablation of the Zebrafish Pronephros to Study Renal Epithelial Regeneration

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is characterized by high mortality rates from deterioration of renal function over a period of hours or days that culminates in ...

Force Measurement During Contraction to Assess Muscle Function in Zebrafish Larvae

Kraftmaalingen Under Sammentrækning at vurdere muskelfunktionen hos zebrafisk Larver

Zebrafish larvae provide models of muscle development, muscle disease and muscle-related chemical toxicity, but related studies often lack functional ...

High Resolution Whole Mount In Situ Hybridization within Zebrafish Embryos to Study Gene Expression and Function

High Resolution Whole Mount In Situ Hybridization within Zebrafish Embryos to Study Gene Expression and Function

High Resolution Hele Mount<em&gt; In Situ</em&gt; Hybridisering inden Zebrafisk embryoner at studere genekspression og funktion

This article focuses on whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) of zebrafish embryos. The WISH technology facilitates the assessment of gene expression ...