Unique and potent effects of acute ibogaine on zebrafish: the developing utility of novel aquatic models for hallucinogenic drug research.
Behavioural brain research January 1, 2013 Jonathan Cachat, Evan J Kyzar, Christopher Collins et al. 112 citations
Ibogaine, a psychoactive compound from the iboga plant, alters multiple behaviors in adult zebrafish. At doses of 10 and 20 mg/L, it reversed the natural diving response, causing initial top swimming followed by bottom dwelling, and reduced the innate preference for dark environments. It did not change overall locomotion or wall-hugging behavior but altered spatial exploration, promoted mirror interaction, disrupted group cohesion, and induced color changes from melanophore aggregation. Brain c-fos expression and whole-body cortisol levels remained unchanged. These results demonstrate ibogaine's complex pharmacological profile and support the use of zebrafish for studying hallucinogenic drug effects.