Growing Importance of Zebrafish in Translational Neuroscience

Zebrafish was introduced as a vertebrate model organism with enormous application in neuroscience to improve our understanding of brain development, homeostasis, dysfunctions, and genetic and behavioural phenotypes. The neuroscience research community is showing increasing interest in zebrafish as a complementary vertebrate model because it shares physiological and morphological characteristics with mammals and has a diverse repertoire of behaviours. Zebrafish has proven its potential as a model organism in recapitulating the genotypes and phenotypes of a wide range of human neurological disorders. It is a suitable preclinical model organism for studying a multitude of neurological conditions since adult zebrafish, larvae, and even embryos are acquiescent to pharmacological, experimental, and genetic manipulation. The utility of zebrafish as a model organism to examine the neurophysiological and pathological processes underlying major neurological disorders is discussed in depth.