Biology subjects

Pflitsch, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Pflitsch, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Control of wildtype zebrafish optomotor response with a photoswitchable drug

For animals to interact effectively with their environment, the brain must integrate sensory information and generate appropriate motor responses. Multiple neuronal circuits contribute to this process, and identifying their roles remains a central focus in neuroscience. The recently developed photoswitchable compound Carbadiazocine controls neuronal firing across species. It modulates larval zebrafish locomotion and alleviates neuropathic pain in rodents in a reversible, light-induced manner. Given its effects on both motor and somatosensory circuits, we investigated the impact of Carbadiazocine on sensorimotor behaviors. We focused on the optomotor response in zebrafish larvae and assessed its potential as a tool for circuit perturbation and behavioral analysis, for the first time combined with photopharmacology. We performed experiments in head-fixed and free-swimming larvae to assess their capacity to detect and follow the direction of optic flow, as well as to characterize swimming speed patterns and individual tail bout properties following administration of the two Carbadiazocine photoisomers. In both paradigms, treatment with the pre-illuminated compound led to a decrease in accuracy in responding to optic flow (correct turning percentage dropping from [~]95 % to [~]80 % in head-fixed experiments and correctness decreasing from [~]65 % to [~]20 % in free-swimming experiments). Speed analysis revealed an increased number and duration of fast movements with a decrease in number and duration of slow movements, even during periods without visual stimulation. Tail bout analysis further showed an increase in 15-30 Hz bout frequencies, corresponding to incomplete, irregular tail movements. All these effects were absent when the dark-relaxed compound was administered. Together, these findings deepen our understanding of sensorimotor transformations and lay the foundations to probe native neuronal circuits underlying behavior in diverse animal species using a wide dynamic range of photostimulation patterns.

animal behavior and cognition↗

bioRxiv2024

Sleep Disruption Improves Performance in Simple Olfactory and Visual Decision-Making Tasks

Sleep disruption drastically impacts cognitive functions including decision-making and attention across many different species. In this study, we leveraged the small size and conserved vertebrate brain structure of larval zebrafish to investigate how sleep disruption modulates visual-and olfactory-decision-making. Strikingly, sleep disruption improved performance in both paradigms. Specifically, sleep disruption lengthens reaction times and increases correct decisions in a visual motion discrimination task, an effect that we attribute to longer integration periods in disrupted animals. Using a drift diffusion model, we predict specific circuit changes underlying these effects. Additionally, we demonstrate that sleep disruption heightens odor sensitivity in an olfactory decision-making task, likely mediated by cortisol. Our findings lay essential groundwork for investigating the brain circuit changes that arise from sleep disruption across species.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Covert attention to obstacles biases escapes via the Mauthner cell

To study the evolutionary origins of object perception, we investigated whether a primitive vertebrate, the larval zebrafish, is sensitive to the presence of obstacles. The zebrafish, which has become a useful model to study brain-wide circuit dynamics, executes fast escape swims when in danger of predation. We posited that collisions with solid objects during escape would be maladaptive to the zebrafish, and therefore the direction of escape swims should be informed by the locations of barriers. To answer this question, we developed a novel closed-loop high-speed imaging rig outfitted with barriers of various qualities. Using this system, we show that when larval zebrafish escape in response to a non-directional vibrational stimulus, they use visual scene information to avoid collisions with obstacles. Our study demonstrates that fish compute absolute distance to obstacles, as distant barriers outside of collision range elicit less bias than nearby collidable barriers that occupy the same visual field. The computation of barrier features is covert, as the fishs reaction to barriers during routine swimming does not predict that they will avoid barriers when escaping. Finally, through two-photon laser ablations, we suggest the presence of an excitatory input from the visual system to Mauthner cells in the brainstem escape network that is responsible for escape direction bias. We propose that zebrafish construct "object solidity" via an integrative visual computation that is more complex than retinal occupancy alone, suggesting a primitive understanding of object features and possibly the origins of a structured model of the physical world.

animal behavior and cognition↗