This site contains the [datasets][1] supporting the manuscript *Experience-dependent development of visual sensitivity in larval zebrafish* by Xie, Jusuf, Bui and Goodbourn.
## Abstract
The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is a popular vertebrate model for studying visual development, especially at the larval stage. For many vertebrates, post-natal visual experience is essential to fine-tune visual development, but it is unknown how experience shapes larval zebrafish vision. Zebrafish swim with a moving texture; in the wild, this innate optomotor response (OMR) stabilises larvae in moving water, but it can be exploited in the laboratory to assess visual function. Here, we compared contrast sensitivity inferred from OMR between visually naïve and experienced larvae from 5 to 7 days post-fertilisation. We also examined development of synaptic connections between neurons by quantifying post-synaptic density 95 (PSD-95) in larval retinae. PSD-95 is closely associated N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, the neurotransmitter-receptor proteins underlying experience-dependent visual development. We found that rather than following an experience-independent genetic programme, developmental changes in contrast sensitivity at the larval stage required visual experience. Exposure to motion that evoked OMR yielded no greater improvement than exposure to static form, suggesting that increased contrast sensitivity as indexed by OMR was driven not by motor practice but by visual experience itself. PSD-95 density was coupled with contrast sensitivity, suggesting that experience up-regulated PSD-95 for synaptic maturation in visual development.
**Keywords:** experience-dependent development, larval zebrafish, optomotor response (OMR), contrast sensitivity, visual perception, PSD-95 density.
[1]: https://osf.io/8emn7/