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posted by martyb on Monday December 02 2019, @08:46AM   Printer-friendly
from the peace-out,-man dept.

https://news.sky.com/story/prozac-pollution-making-fish-less-aggressive-says-study-11860507

Psychoactive drugs - including antidepressants - are altering the reproductive behaviour, anxiety levels, and anti-predator responses of fish in the wild, according to Australia's Monash University.

[...] According to the research[0], Prozac didn't change the feeding and foraging behaviour of solitary fish, however when it was applied to whole groups of fish it had a suppressive effect.

Last year, another study[1] covering the impact of Prozac pollution on fish said it could last for three generations, blunting the stress responses in exposed embryos and any of that embryo's descendants once it had matured.

The study, from the University of Ottowa, showed how zebrafish didn't explore their tank as much when they were treated with Prozac.

Dr Vance Trudeau, a neuroendocrinologist, said there were good reasons to believe the effects that his study revealed could also occur in humans.

This is because the core stress hormone cortisone has the same impact in fish as it does on humans.

0Field-realistic antidepressant exposure disrupts group foraging dynamics in mosquitofish[$], Biology Letters (DOI: 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4711484)

1Transgenerational hypocortisolism and behavioral disruption are induced by the antidepressant fluoxetine in male zebrafish Danio rerio[$], Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1811695115)


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  • (Score: 3, Insightful) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday December 02 2019, @09:54AM

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Monday December 02 2019, @09:54AM (#927043) Journal
  • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Monday December 02 2019, @10:56AM (4 children)

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 02 2019, @10:56AM (#927059) Journal

    The study, from the University of Ottowa, showed how zebrafish didn't explore their tank as much when they were treated with Prozac.

    Dr Vance Trudeau, a neuroendocrinologist, said there were good reasons to believe the effects that his study revealed could also occur in humans.

    So, the effect is humans exploring less zebra fishes' tank? Or will they be exploring less the humans' tank? (grin)

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @12:55PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @12:55PM (#927089)

      They're more likely to vote Republican.

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @02:35PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @02:35PM (#927118)

      One can only speculate, so we're probably all just going to engage in confirmation bias. And it's also difficult to separate cause from effect. For instance one known datum is that Americans are now moving about vastly [curbed.com] less than they used to. We're also doing the exact some in the more literal sense, which is likely contributing to the increasingly absurd levels of obesity and poor health.

      There are obvious political implications as well. For instance if it really does meaningfully impair predator response it would suggest it might be becoming easier for "predators" to manipulate "prey" without their awareness, or perhaps concern. Of course again though when you start filling in the blanks with nouns, people are just going to be going full on confirmation bias since everybody thinks they know everything and it's just the other guy being manipulated. One thing that is for certain is that those who identify as democrats tend to have vastly higher [buzzfeednews.com] (shit source, but l see no reason to expect the survey is fake or completely invalid) rates of mental illness than those who identify as republican. This would suggest different rates of psychotropic use by political identity.

      There are also weird things like mass shooters. The only thing these guys clearly have in common is a very disproportionate usage of psychotropic pharmaceuticals. Kind of interesting that it lowers aggressiveness, and weakens the response to predators, yet it is probably also contributing to some absurdly violent behaviors in a tiny chunk of people.

      Definitely something I found interesting and that should undoubtedly be studied more, and rapidly. It would be rather interesting if some decades from now people look at psychotropics as we now look at e.g. leaded fuel (or even lead itself if you go back in history a bit). Different manifestation of course but all things that became completely ubiquitous before discovering we were effectively poisoning ourselves.

    • (Score: 2) by RS3 on Monday December 02 2019, @03:06PM

      by RS3 (6367) on Monday December 02 2019, @03:06PM (#927139)

      More data is needed. I suggest writing a research grant application.

      (running joke among some of my friends- the more ludicrous the idea, the more a grant is needed...)

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @04:41PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @04:41PM (#927198)

      Dory was on Prozac?

  • (Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @01:11PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @01:11PM (#927090)

    Can I give this to my cat to make him less aggressive?

    Also, can this treatment be given to jews to make them less violent?

  • (Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday December 02 2019, @03:41PM (1 child)

    by DannyB (5839) Subscriber Badge on Monday December 02 2019, @03:41PM (#927157) Journal

    Psychoactive drugs - including antidepressants - are altering the reproductive behaviour, anxiety levels, and anti-predator responses of fish in the wild, according to Australia's Monash University.

    Erectile Dysfunction drugs -- including cialis -- can alter the reproductive behavior, anxiety levels and anti-predator responses of fish in the wild, in such a way as to counteract the psychoactive drugs.

    --
    People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
    • (Score: 2) by Azuma Hazuki on Monday December 02 2019, @11:58PM

      by Azuma Hazuki (5086) on Monday December 02 2019, @11:58PM (#927430) Journal

      Phosphodiesterase inhibitors also cause sharp drops in blood pressure. You really want to make a whole ocean of fish pass out?

      --
      I am "that girl" your mother warned you about...
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @03:46PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @03:46PM (#927161)

    Aggressive fish were our last hope against Trump!

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @08:00PM

      by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @08:00PM (#927311)

      Aggressive fish were our last hope against Trump!

      On the other hand it's now safer to put frickin' lasers on sharks.

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @04:16PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Monday December 02 2019, @04:16PM (#927187)

    ... happy fish friends. [bigcommerce.com]

    • (Score: 2) by Pslytely Psycho on Monday December 02 2019, @05:43PM

      by Pslytely Psycho (1218) on Monday December 02 2019, @05:43PM (#927227)

      There is something vaguely disturbing about that photograph.....

      --
      Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @03:02AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 03 2019, @03:02AM (#927509)
      I don't recall Bob Ross [wikipedia.org] ever painting ocean scenes, but if he did there certainly would've been some happy fish in there!
  • (Score: 1, Offtopic) by dw861 on Tuesday December 03 2019, @03:08AM (2 children)

    by dw861 (1561) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday December 03 2019, @03:08AM (#927513) Journal

    Ottawa, for some reason, is a tough word for non-Canadians to spell. Even for some editors at major news sources.

    ‘Ottowa' Shooting Has World's Copy Editors Scrambling To Fix Spelling
    https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/10/25/ottowa-ottawa-spelling_n_6044198.html?guccounter=1 [huffingtonpost.ca]

    Fortunately, Soylent News is up there with the best of them, including Britain’s The Independent and The Telegraph, Fox News, Rupert Murdoch’s Australian news portal, News.com.au, and NPR.

    • (Score: 2, Funny) by Goghit on Tuesday December 03 2019, @07:38AM

      by Goghit (6530) on Tuesday December 03 2019, @07:38AM (#927570)

      And here I thought they were talking about some place in New Zealand or Aus land, not the Ottawa us Westerners love to hate.

    • (Score: 2) by dw861 on Wednesday December 04 2019, @03:14AM

      by dw861 (1561) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday December 04 2019, @03:14AM (#927958) Journal

      I've been modded "off topic", so I'll be more direct this time.

      There is a significant spelling error in the story. Editors, thank you for fixing it.

      People can write whatever they want in the comments, but I would hope that at least the original stories are correct.

      Again, thank you.

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