Robert Gerlai

Professor

Campus

UTM

CSB Appointment

Full

Research Areas

Genetics / Genomics, Neurobiology

Education

Ph.D. D.Sc. Hungarian Academy of Sciences 1987 & 1987
M.Sc. Eotvos University of Budapest 1984

Titles and Honors

Past president of IBNS, 2013
Distinguished Scientist awardee of IBANGS
Fellow of IBNS

Primary Undergraduate Department

Biology, UTM

Graduate Programs

Cell & Systems Biology
Chemical & Physical Sciences

Research Description

Neurobehavioural genetic analysis of zebrafish with a focus on alcohol effects, social behaviour, learning and memory.

Contact Information

Office Phone: 905-569-4255
Office: DV3035
Lab: DV1013
Lab Phone: 905-569-4257
Email

Mailing Address

Department of Cell & Systems Biology
University of Toronto
3359 Mississauga Road
Mississauga, ON L5L 1C6
Canada

Visit lab’s website

Publications

2014

Acute Net Stressor Increases Whole-Body Cortisol Levels Without Altering Whole-Brain Monoamines in Zebrafish

Tran S, Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2014, Behavioral neuroscience, 24911317

Fish in behavior research: Unique tools with a great promise!

Gerlai R
2014, Journal of neuroscience methods, 234C, 54-58, 24768578

An integrative analysis of ethanol tolerance and withdrawal in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tran S, Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2014, Behavioural brain research, 24598276

Recent advances with a novel model organism: Alcohol tolerance and sensitization in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tran S, Gerlai R
2014, Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry, 24593943

Subcutaneous dye injection for marking and identification of individual adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) in behavioral studies

Cheung E, Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2014, Behavior research methods, 46, 619-24, 24057277

Diving deeper into Zebrafish development of social behavior: Analyzing high resolution data

Buske C, Gerlai R
2014, Journal of neuroscience methods, 234, 66-72, 24970579

Short-term memory in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Jia J, Fernandes Y, Gerlai R
2014, Behavioural brain research, 270, 29-36, 24803213

Social behavior of zebrafish: From synthetic images to biological mechanisms of shoaling

Gerlai R
2014, Journal of neuroscience methods, 234, 59-65, 24793400

Zebrafish models for translational neuroscience research: from tank to bedside

Stewart AM, Braubach O, Spitsbergen J, Gerlai R, Kalueff AV
2014, Trends in neurosciences, 37, 264-78, 24726051

Embryonic alcohol exposure impairs associative learning performance in adult zebrafish

Fernandes Y, Tran S, Abraham E, Gerlai R
2014, Behavioural brain research, 265, 181-7, 24594368

Induction of social behavior in zebrafish: live versus computer animated fish as stimuli

Qin M, Wong A, Seguin D, Gerlai R
2014, Zebrafish, 11, 185-97, 24575942

Zebrafish as an emerging model for studying complex brain disorders

Kalueff AV, Stewart AM, Gerlai R
2014, Trends in pharmacological sciences, 35, 63-75, 24412421

Chronic and acute alcohol administration induced neurochemical changes in the brain: comparison of distinct zebrafish populations

Chatterjee D, Shams S, Gerlai R
2014, Amino acids, 46, 921-30, 24381007

2013

The role of body surface area in quantity discrimination in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

Gómez-Laplaza LM, Gerlai R
2013, PloS one, 8, e83880, 24386299

Acute ethanol exposure induces behavioural differences in two zebrafish (Danio rerio) strains: a time course analysis

Pannia E, Tran S, Rampersad M, Gerlai R
2014, Behavioural brain research, 259, 174-85, 24239692

Strain dependent neurochemical changes induced by embryonic alcohol exposure in zebrafish

Mahabir S, Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2014, Neurotoxicology and teratology, 41, 1-7, 24225385

Individual differences in activity levels in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tran S, Gerlai R
2013, Behavioural brain research, 257, 224-9, 24084583

Antipredatory behavior of zebrafish: adaptive function and a tool for translational research

Gerlai R
2013, Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behavior, 11, 591-605, 23864295

Time-course of behavioural changes induced by ethanol in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Tran S, Gerlai R
2013, Behavioural brain research, 252, 204-13, 23756142

Maturation of shoaling in two zebrafish strains: a behavioral and neurochemical analysis

Mahabir S, Chatterjee D, Buske C, Gerlai R
2013, Behavioural brain research, 247, 1-8, 23518435

Towards a comprehensive catalog of zebrafish behavior 1.0 and beyond

Kalueff AV, Gebhardt M, Stewart AM, Cachat JM, Brimmer M, Chawla JS, Craddock C, Kyzar EJ, Roth A, Landsman S, Gaikwad S, Robinson K, Baatrup E, Tierney K, Shamchuk A, Norton W, Miller N, Nicolson T, Braubach O, Gilman CP, Pittman J, Rosemberg DB, Gerlai R, Echevarria D, Lamb E, Neuhauss SC, Weng W, Bally-Cuif L, Schneider H,
2013, Zebrafish, 10, 70-86, 23590400

Sight of conspecific images induces changes in neurochemistry in zebrafish

Saif M, Chatterjee D, Buske C, Gerlai R
2013, Behavioural brain research, 243, 294-9, 23357085

2012

Effects of nicotine and alcohol on zebrafish (Danio rerio) shoaling

Miller N, Greene K, Dydinski A, Gerlai R
2013, Behavioural brain research, 240, 192-6, 23219966

Quantification abilities in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare): the influence of continuous variables

Gómez-Laplaza LM, Gerlai R
2013, Animal cognition, 16, 373-83, 23161214

From schooling to shoaling: patterns of collective motion in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Miller N, Gerlai R
2012, PloS one, 7, e48865, 23166599

Activity counts: the effect of swimming activity on quantity discrimination in fish

Gómez-Laplaza LM, Gerlai R
2012, Frontiers in psychology, 3, 484, 23162518

Can zebrafish learn spatial tasks? An empirical analysis of place and single CS-US associative learning

Karnik I, Gerlai R
2012, Behavioural brain research, 233, 415-21, 22633962

Dopamine receptor antagonism disrupts social preference in zebrafish: a strain comparison study

Scerbina T, Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2012, Amino acids, 43, 2059-72, 22491827

Animated bird silhouette above the tank: acute alcohol diminishes fear responses in zebrafish

Luca RM, Gerlai R
2012, Behavioural brain research, 229, 194-201, 22266470

Using zebrafish to unravel the genetics of complex brain disorders

Gerlai R
2012, Current topics in behavioral neurosciences, 12, 3-24, 22250005

2011

Redefining membership in animal groups

Miller N, Gerlai R
2011, Behavior research methods, 43, 964-70, 21491173

In search of optimal fear inducing stimuli: Differential behavioral responses to computer animated images in zebrafish

Luca RM, Gerlai R
2012, Behavioural brain research, 226, 66-76, 21920389

Maturation of shoaling behavior is accompanied by changes in the dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems in zebrafish

Buske C, Gerlai R
2012, Developmental psychobiology, 54, 28-35, 21656763

Early embryonic ethanol exposure impairs shoaling and the dopaminergic and serotoninergic systems in adult zebrafish

Buske C, Gerlai R
2011, Neurotoxicology and teratology, 33, 698-707, 21658445

Associative learning performance is impaired in zebrafish (Danio rerio) by the NMDA-R antagonist MK-801

Sison M, Gerlai R
2011, Neurobiology of learning and memory, 96, 230-7, 21596149

Spontaneous discrimination of small quantities: shoaling preferences in angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)

Gómez-Laplaza LM, Gerlai R
2011, Animal cognition, 14, 565-74, 21409443

Behavioral performance altering effects of MK-801 in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Sison M, Gerlai R
2011, Behavioural brain research, 220, 331-7, 21333690

Shoaling in zebrafish: what we don’t know

Miller NY, Gerlai R
2011, Reviews in the neurosciences, 22, 17-25, 21615258

A small fish with a big future: zebrafish in behavioral neuroscience

Gerlai R
2011, Reviews in the neurosciences, 22, 3-4, 21615256

Associative learning in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Gerlai R
2011, Methods in cell biology, 101, 249-70, 21550448

High-throughput behavioral screens: the first step towards finding genes involved in vertebrate brain function using zebrafish

Gerlai R
2010, Molecules (Basel, Switzerland), 15, 2609-22, 20428068

High precision liquid chromatography analysis of dopaminergic and serotoninergic responses to acute alcohol exposure in zebrafish

Chatterjee D, Gerlai R
2009, Behavioural brain research, 200, 208-13, 19378384

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) responds to the animated image of a predator: towards the development of an automated aversive task

Gerlai R, Fernandes Y, Pereira T
2009, Behavioural brain research, 201, 318-24, 19428651

Long-term behavioral changes in response to early developmental exposure to ethanol in zebrafish

Fernandes Y, Gerlai R
2009, Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 33, 601-9, 19183139

2007

Sight of conspecifics as reward in associative learning in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Al-Imari L, Gerlai R
2008, Behavioural brain research, 189, 216-9, 18243353

Alarm substance induced behavioral responses in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Speedie N, Gerlai R
2008, Behavioural brain research, 188, 168-77, 18054804

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) responds differentially to stimulus fish: the effects of sympatric and allopatric predators and harmless fish

Bass SL, Gerlai R
2008, Behavioural brain research, 186, 107-17, 17854920

Quantification of shoaling behaviour in zebrafish (Danio rerio)

Miller N, Gerlai R
2007, Behavioural brain research, 184, 157-66, 17707522

2004

Autism: a target of pharmacotherapies?

Gerlai R, Gerlai J
2004, Drug discovery today, 9, 366-74, 15081964

2003

Zebra fish: an uncharted behavior genetic model

Gerlai R
2003, Behavior genetics, 33, 461-8, 14574124

Autism: a large unmet medical need and a complex research problem

Gerlai J, Gerlai R
2003, Physiology & behavior, 79, 461-70, 12954440