Nature · 23 September 2026 · From issue 41
Neuronal detection of social actions directs collective escape behaviour
In glassfish, watching a neighbor vanish triggers escape brain cells and makes fish flee.
Jo-Hsien Yu, Geoff T. Meyerhof et al.
A small see-through fish can sense danger just by watching its neighbors, without seeing the danger itself. Brain cells in its visual areas fired more when virtual fish nearby escaped, and even when those virtual fish simply vanished from view. This only worked when the fake fish moved in a natural way, with quick bursts and gliding, like real fish do. The real fish then swam away from the group, treating a sudden disappearance as a warning sign.
Shows how a fish's brain can read a neighbor's sudden vanishing as a danger signal.
Lab fish and virtual stimuli only, not tested in the wild.
Integrity screen: passed (3 checks) Checked 30 September 2026. Retraction record: none. DOI resolves at doi.org. Metadata record found (Nature). Read the source
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