Tracking the Kinematics of Zebrafish Startle Responses Following Ablation of Sensory Hair Cells

The survival of a zebrafish depends on its ability to detect and respond to external stimuli. Indeed, to avoid predators, zebrafish startle when subjected to sudden mechanical stimuli. Here our goal is to characterize the kinematic properties of the zebrafish startle response following ablation of sensory hair cells to determine the role of these cells as well as observe whether differences in the neural circuitry lead to measurable physical changes in the kinematic properties. To measure these kinematic properties, we head mounted a single larval zebrafish, induced a startle, and took videos of tail movement with a high-speed camera. Videos were analyzed in MATLAB to find the tail midline, allowing us to measure the kinematic differences in tail angle, velocity, acceleration, and curvature. Further work could observe twist and out of plane motion of the tail. Differences in these kinematic parameters would highlight how zebrafish behavior is affected by an altered neural circuit.