Organization and Physiology of the Zebrafish Nervous System
Résumé
The zebrafish is now a well-established animal model popularized mostly by developmental biologists for its easy observation and manipulation during embryogenesis. Since the zebrafish is also amenable to genetic approaches and molecular manipulation in vivo, it followed the fate of other standardized laboratory animals by becoming also a model for adult functions and behaviors in vertebrates. This prompted a wealth of studies about the neural physiology and neurobiology of behaviors in zebrafish, in seeking comparison with human or other vertebrate neurophysiology. The emerging picture shows the zebrafish as retaining most of the basic features of other vertebrates, confirming it as a pertinent model for comparison with humans, provided its phylogenetical relationships and natural way of life are readily understood to prevent overstatement, misinterpretation or even disregard of zebrafish data. Given the success of the zebrafish to study the genetics of vertebrate development, extension of its use as a model for physiology and behavior promises to be very successful in the next few years. This chapter provides a brief overview of our current knowledge about the development of neural functions, basic neurophysiology and the control of behavior in zebrafish.