Published July 12, 2023 | Version 0.1
Software Open

Metabolic shift toward ketosis in asocial cavefish increases social-like collective behavior

  • 1. School of Life Sciences, University of Hawaii at Manoa
  • 2. Na Puuwai Native Hawaiian Healthcare System; Nutrition Services Department, Shriners Hospitals for Children
  • 3. Medical Staff Department, Shriners Hospitals for Children

Description

Social affinity and collective behavior are nearly ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, but many lineages feature evolutionarily asocial species. These solitary species may have evolved to conserve energy in food-sparse environments. However, the mechanism by which metabolic changes regulate social affinity is not well investigated. In this study, we used the Mexican tetra (Astyanax mexicanus), which features riverine sighted surface (surface fish) and cave-dwelling populations (cavefish), to address the impact of metabolic shifts on asociality and other cave-associated behaviors in cavefish, including repetitive turning, sleeplessness, swimming longer distances, and enhanced foraging behavior. After 1 month of ketosis-inducing ketogenic diet feeding, the asocial cavefish exhibited significantly higher social affinity, whereas social affinity regressed in cavefish fed the standard diet. The ketogenic diet also reduced repetitive turning and swimming in cavefish. No major behavioral shifts were found regarding sleeplessness and foraging behavior, suggesting that other evolved behaviors are not largely regulated by ketosis. We further examined the effects of the ketogenic diet via supplementation with extragenic ketone bodies, revealing that ketone bodies are pivotal molecules positively associated with social affinity. Our study indicated that fish that evolved to be asocial remain capable of exhibiting social affinity under ketosis, possibly linking the seasonal food availability and sociality.

This program set is to analyze the sleep data generated by Noldos EthovisionXT

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