ANXIOUS ZEBRAFISH HELP NYU-POLY RESEARCHERS UNDERSTAND HOW
ALCOHOL AFFECTS FEAR
The latest in a series of experiments testing the ability of
robots to influence live animals shows that bio-inspired robots can not only
elicit fear in zebrafish, but that this reaction can be modulated by alcohol.
These findings may pave the way for new methodologies for understanding anxiety
and other emotions, as well as substances that alter them.
Maurizio Porfiri, associate professor of mechanical and
aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University
(NYU-Poly) and Simone Macrì, a collaborator at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità
in Rome, Italy, published their findings in PLOS ONE, an international,
peer-reviewed, open-access, online publication.