It's All in the Gut! a Study to Investigate the Effects of Various Dietary Elements on Autism Related Behaviors Using “Danio Rerio”

Overview

Autism is a developmental disorder that impairs the ability to communicate and interact. Children with Autism are more hyperactive and sleep deprived (autism-related behaviors) than a neurotypical child. Recent research suggests the existence of a gut brain connection and a link to diet and behaviors. Parents have observed eliminating gluten, casein, soy, corn and sugar to reduce undesired behavior in children on the spectrum. This project aims to see if there exists a connection between the diets and autism-related behaviors. The model organism used was zebrafish or Danio rerio, because of the ability to track their activity efficiently and their genetic similarity to humans. Six Danio rerio fish were kept in a spare room, in six tanks, with oxygenation, and water filtration for each tank. Variations of fish food was made (experiment added gluten, sucrose, lactose (casein), soy, and corn to a control Danio rerio diet) and fed to the fish. The control food was homemade from scratch with organic ingredients (broccoli, spinach, spirulina, garlic, and shrimp). The student monitored their strokes per minute (tail movement) at 3 times in the day- 7:00am, 5:00pm, and 12:00am. Activity was then observed and compared with the control group. ANOVA, and Tukey HSD (statistical models) were used for the determination of hyperactivity, and sleep deprivation. Gluten showed the most hyperactivity among the Danio rerio fish followed by sucrose and soy.This shows a correlation between diet and autism-related behaviors, thus supporting the existence of a gut brain connection within the human gut microbiome.

Competition history

• AJAS 2018 Category not listed

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

• AJAS None projects
• Every AJAS 2018 project