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Zebrafish happy to hang out with lifelike robotic dopplegangers

"This clarifies the important role motion plays in influencing zebrafish behavior," said researcher Maurizio Porfiri.

By Brooks Hays
Want to engage with a zebrafish? A 3D lifelike moving robot works best. Photo by NYU
Want to engage with a zebrafish? A 3D lifelike moving robot works best. Photo by NYU

NEW YORK, Oct. 24 (UPI) -- Zebrafish are keen to interact with a lifelike replica of themselves -- other stimuli, not so much.

Researchers at New York University found zebrafish were apt to to engage with 3D, moving robotic dopplegangers, but mostly ignored bots that failed to look or move like a real zebrafish.

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Neuroscientists, sociologists and other students of human behavior are increasingly looking to zebrafish as an ideal animal test subject. The scientifically versatile species is prized for its simple biology and social tendencies.

Zebrafish have previously been used in studies aimed at shedding light on a variety of human problems, including anxiety, addiction, autism and schizophrenia. Understanding how zebrafish respond to various stimuli can help improve follow-up explorations of those disorders.

As part of a new study -- published in the journal Royal Society Open Science -- researchers at NYU presented zebrafish with several types of stimuli. In addition to 3D, moving lookalikes, the fish were put in multi-sectional tanks with a 2D moving replica, stationary replica, transparent replica and an inanimate rod.

The fish preferred to hang out with the robot that looked and moved like a real zebrafish.

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"The fish, when presented with the choice between a static robot and one that was moving in 3D and beating its tail, preferred to spend time with the latter," Maurizio Porfiri, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering," explained in a news release.

"This clarifies the important role motion plays in influencing zebrafish behavior," said Porfiri. "These experiments also significantly refined the robotic platform that enables consistent, repeatable tests with our live subjects."

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