Photo by Protographer23
Of course, every human has a phobia of some sort, or something that frightens them every time they see, hear, or think about it. Plus, most fears humans have are natural and are subconscious. On the other hand, goldfish can be trained to be frightened of images or things around them. New research and studies have shown that fish can be conditioned to react a certain way to a stimulus through classical conditioning. The study has created a breakthrough in human phobia research and possible solutions to human fears.
In a previous post on this blog, “Teach a Goldfish New Tricks” by Jeremy, he researched a study observed on goldfish learning simple tricks. He talks about a father and son teaching their pet goldfish how to navigate simple obstacles by luring them through with food. The fish complete several tricks like swimming through a pipe, swimming under a bar and even pushing a miniature soccer ball into a small net. The goldfish learned how to do these tricks because they were conditioned to a reward. This form of conditioning is operant because through trial and error the goldfish learn how to complete tricks in order to receive a reward.
In an article posted recently about a study on goldfish, the fish learned how to become afraid of a certain stimulus by a conditioned result. In the study, conducted by Masayuki Yoshida and Ruriko Hirano, the scientists trained the experimental goldfish to become afraid of a green light. They associated this light with a mild electric shock, so when scientists exposed the fish to the green light their heart rate would immediately slow down, or in other words become scared. The study was done to test if phobias could be controlled or not, and as a result the scientists were able to create a stimulus that the goldfish feared.
After the fish were trained to react to the green light, scientists injected lidocaine (a type of anesthetic) into the goldfishes’ cerebellum before they showed the fish the light. When the green light was shown to the fish with lidocaine in their brains they showed no fear of the green light. Scientists concluded that with a small dosage of lidocaine, the fish would forget their phobia of the green light and react as though they had never been trained to fear it.
This study has proven to be quite important to scientific studies relating to human brain reactivity and behavior because this could advance new technologies that will rid humans of our phobias. Although humans will never inject lidocaine inside our brains, the study proves that there is possibility to train humans to overcome phobias and fears that have haunted us in the past.
Why does a goldfish’s heart rate slows down instead of quickening like a human’s heart rate? Is this a contributing factor to why goldfish were able to be conditioned to be afraid? Finally, was this study useful to scientific research and future studies?
