Fig. 1
Background swimming speeds, schooling behavior and seizure severity are affected by FMRP KD. a Background swimming is decreased in FMRP KD tadpoles (Pt < 0.05). b–c Visual avoidance behavior is unaffected. Collision-escape velocity (b, the velocity of the tadpole after collision with virtual object) and escape distance (c, the distance between the tadpole and the virtual object when the tadpole initiates avoidance response) are unaffected (Pt > 0.05 for controls and FMRP KD tadpoles in b, c). d–e FMRP KD tadpoles show reduced schooling. d FMRP KD tadpoles have fewer long and short distances and more medium distances between neighboring tadpoles, indicating more dispersed swimming and decreased aggregation (P KS  < 0.05). e Control tadpoles have a higher frequency of less than 90° angles for co-orientation whereas FMRP KD tadpoles have no preference for alignment (P KS  < 10−20), inset. Diagram explaining schooling behavior, with small clusters of tadpoles with more short (inter-cluster) and long (intra-cluster) distances in controls, and more medium distances in FMRP KD tadpoles. Tadpoles are also co oriented with their nearest neighbor. f–h FMRP KD tadpoles seize significantly less frequently and for longer than controls, indicating decreased seizure susceptibility. f FMRP KD tadpoles seize with significantly reduced frequency compared to control MO tadpoles (P t  < 0.01), g FMRP KD tadpoles have significantly longer seizures (P t  < 0.005), h Seizure length plotted against seizure frequency indicates a negative correlation between the two, and separation between experimental groups