Figure 1

Visual avoidance is impaired by chronic cytokine treatment. (A) Control tadpoles and tadpoles reared in IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were tested for normal visual avoidance behavior. This behavior requires tectal processing. Tadpoles were placed in a testing chamber with no stimulus for 30 s. The dot pattern was then presented for 30 seconds, such that the dots were drifting on one half of the tank and stationary on the other. After the stimulus, the number of tadpoles on the stationary side was counted to calculate percent avoidance (see Methods for details). All cytokine-reared groups showed impaired avoidance behavior. (B) Control tadpoles and tadpoles reared in IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α were tested for an optomotor response (OMR). This behavior does not require tectal processing. Tadpoles were placed in a testing chamber with no stimulus for 30 s. The drifting grating was presented for 30 s. After the stimulus, the number of tadpoles that swam in the direction of the grating was counted to calculate the percent correct (see Methods for details). All groups showed a significant OMR, although the OMR in the IL-6 group was slightly reduced. For P-values, see Results.