Previous studies at the Department of Animal Physiology have shown that they are an almost ideal target for determining the effects of an anesthetic on fish in detail. The Mauthner cells in the brains of fish process all the information available to the fish on the basis of their sensory systems.

The findings enable the informed and more targeted application of isoeugenol anesthesia in the interest of animal welfare.

The study, published in Communications Biology, shows how and in what doses the active ingredient affects the perception and transmission of sensory stimuli and their processing in the brain of fish. A research team at the Department of Animal Physiology at the University of Bayreuth has now investigated the mode of action of isoeugenol in fish. Isoeugenol is a fragrance contained in plants that is very commonly used as an anesthetic in fish farming facilities and aquaculture. b The systemic effect an anesthetic can have on central neurons by affecting ion channels and the generation and axonal conduction of action potentials can be studied by antidromically activating the Mauthner axon. So, recording of postsynaptic potentials after sensory stimulation (e.g., visual or acoustic) can reveal whether the anesthetic affects different sensory organs directly, the transmission of sensory information to the MN or the processing within the MN. a Its function as a command neuron for life-saving escapes requires the MN to faithfully process information forwarded from almost all senses. Intracellular in vivo recording in the Mauthner neuron (MN) of the goldfish provides a comprehensive and rapid assay of targets an anesthetic can act on. Brief overview of how the Mauthner neuron can be used to examine the mode of action of anesthetics.

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