What is the main question the study attempts to answer?
To investigate what implications moderate exposure to alcohol during embryonic development has on certain cognitive aspects in adulthood.
What is (are) the hypothesis(es)?
The moderate developmental ethanol exposure would affect aspects of learning and memory in zebrafish.
What techniques/analyses do the researchers adopt to test their hypothesis(es)?
First, they performed the exposure of zebrafish embryos to moderate doses of alcohol or to fresh aquarium water with no alcohol (control) for 7 days according to established protocol. Later, when the animals were in the adult stages, at 3 months of age, the researchers performed the tests of appetitive conditioning, pavlovian fear conditioning and Y-maze test of perseveration and repetitive alternation to evaluate the effects of ethanol treatment on aspects of learning and memory.
Why is this study relevant?