Olivia Hebert co-authors article published in 'Physiology and Behavior'

Olivia Hebert (Medical Biology '13) co-authored an article with Associate Professor of Psychology Teresa Dzieweczynski, Ph.D., that has been published in the current issue of the peer-reviewed journal Physiology and Behavior.

The article, "Fluoxetine alters behavioral consistency of aggression and courtship in male Siamese fighting fish, Betta splendens," discusses the researchers' study of how exposure to fluoxetine (otherwise known as Prozac) affects behavior when male Siamese fighting fish encounter female and male dummy conspecifics simultaneously. Fluoxetine influenced both overall levels of response and consistency of aggressive behaviors.

Interestingly, exposure to fluoxetine also affected consistency of courtship behaviors, with males becoming more consistent when exposed. These findings demonstrate that pharmaceutical exposure may alter more than just overall level of behavior and stress the importance of examining the effects of exposure on an individual and population level.

This is Hebert's third scientific article and is based on research she conducted last summer while on a CAS summer undergraduate research fellowship.

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