Below is a transcript of our conversation with Oliva Buzinski:
David Nicholas:
I'm David Nicholas and this is Central Focus, a weekly look at research activity and innovative work from Central Michigan University students and faculty. When it comes to brain research, scientists are often looking for correlations with other species. The study of aggressive behavior in fish may help us understand oxidative damage in the human brain. Olivia Buzynski is from DeWitt, MI, and a biology graduate student at CMU. She told me about the work she has done…
David Nicholas:
For the study, Olivia, you worked with a specific type of fish, as I understand it. Tell us about that fish and why it was the ideal one to study specifically for the behaviors you were looking for.
Olivia Buzinski:
So, we're working with an African cichlid fish. And these fish are known for being aggressive, and they defend territories. And so, you can imagine in the fish tanks that we have set up, we have two fish in those tanks and all day they're just fighting with each other and. Because of that aggression, we expect to see increased levels of the hormones that we are interested in studying, which are androgens such as testosterone.
DN:
When you put them in the tank and (and) I understand that you know use dividers to kind of create their (their) zones that they could be in and so forth. How close is that to what we think their natural surroundings are? If we were to see them in in the (the) actual body of water, would they be that close. How does it mirror that?
OB:
Yeah, so, while the focus of our lab isn't necessarily replicating their natural environment, it is somewhat like in their natural setting. They are close together in communities and, they do fight the way that we kind of set them up to do, and from there we wanted to or manipulate the level of territoriality so that we could compare, OK, in the males that had low levels of territoriality, we'll do hormonal assays to see what levels of testosterone they had. How does the level of damage, oxidative damage in their brain compared to (to) males that may have? Than more territorial.
DN:
And that's a good term there too then then to help me understand, oxidative damage in the brain. What (what) exactly is that?
OB:
Reactive oxygen species are typically produced as a byproduct of, I guess energy creation and those reactive oxygen species or “ROS” then go on to, if they're not mitigated by any antioxidants, cause cellular damage and general dysfunction, um, so…
DN:
And we can measure that? We can measure, if we're talking about something connected with the brain, we've got a way to study the brain patterns or something of that within fish? We’re at that point we can do that?
OB:
Yes. So, we're (Wow!) (we're) using immunohistochemistry or IHC. And with that, after the experiment is over, we section the fish brains and then we go through this process where we, essentially, tag, I guess the markers of damage.
DN:
There's plenty of value in understanding any numbers of (of) species within our natural world, but, asking is there a direct connection then as we understand this to applying it to having a better understanding of humans? Does this get us there or (or) you need to develop it further to get…bring (bring), if you were the the (the) fish and the humans closer together, (where it is) but is (that's the) that's the goal? To be able to understand that kind of behavior?
OB:
The goal is, yes, aggression. We're interested in knowing how higher levels of aggression contribute to cellular damage, but specifically, we're more interested in stress as a whole. Because you know, stress can cause oxidative damage, which leads to premature aging, or can, and other kinds of health issues. And so, while we are not going to be the ones making that connection back to humans, we can't because we're just working with the fish. But it does provide some insight and some relativity to those larger questions.
DN:
We're on the road and that's good because you are one of our guides on that road to understanding all of these concepts and (and) issues much more closely. Olivia Buzinski, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us. We appreciate it.
OB:
Thank you.
