Behavioural effects of approach-avoidance motivational conflicts in Zebrafish: testing an Attentional Control Model on videotracked swimming activity

Motivational conflicts have been thoroughly studied in birds and mammals over the last decades, but their investigation has remained anecdotic with respect to fish. However, recent researches reveal that, emotion and cognition also play a pivotal role in the expression of fish behaviour. Fish exhibit fear, long-term memory, attentional and learning capacities that are comparable with those of other vertebrates, including nonhuman primates. Thus, fish can be expected to manage motivational conflicts using cognitive similar resources. As many other teleost fishes, zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a good candidate to investigate the behavioural effects of approach–avoidance conflicts because of its genetic and neurophysiological proximity with “higher” vertebrates. The present study aims to determine how Zebrafish reacted to threats of different magnitude (low vs. high) following the delivery of food.