Anxious Crayfish Can Be Treated Like Humans Say Scientists
Posted on June 13, 2014
Scientists say anxious crayfish can be treated like humans. The scientists conducted an experiment that found the crustaceans experience a primitive form of anxiety. The scientists found the crayfish can be treated with the anti-anxiety drug, chlordiazepoxide (CDZ), that also works on humans.
The scientists put crayfish, which normally prefer dark water, into a plus-shaped tank that had both lighted and dark arms. Some of the crayfish received electric shocks before being put in the tank. The researchers found that crayfish that had not received shocks spent most of the time in the dark arms of the tank, but also explored the lighted arms of the tank. Crayfish that had been shocked and became stressed rarely entered the lighted arms of the tank. The scientists determined that the stressed crayfish had increased serotonin levels. The researchers found they could make the crayfish less anxious by giving them CDZ. The stressed crayfish began exploring lighter areas of the tank without acting so nervously after receiving a CDZ injection. Take a look:
A research paper on the anxious crayfish was published here in the journal, Science.