Developing zebrafish models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Authors
- Stewart, A.M., Nguyen, M., Wong, K., Poudel, M.K., and Kalueff, A.V.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-140128-6
- Date
- 2014
- Source
- Progress in neuro-psychopharmacology & biological psychiatry 50C: 27-36 (Review)
- Registered Authors
- Kalueff, Allan V.
- Keywords
- 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine, ADHD, ASD, AVP, Autism spectrum disorder, Behavioral tests, DSM-5, Dianostic and Statistical Manual of mental disorders, 5th edition, FXS, GABA, MDMA, N-methyl-D-aspartate, NMDA, PCP, SERT, SFARI, SSRIs, Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative, Social deficits, Translational research, V1a receptor, V1aR, Zebrafish, arginine vasopressin, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorder, fragile X syndrome, gamma-aminobutyric acid, phencyclidine, selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, serotonin transporter
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Brain/physiology
- Child Development Disorders, Pervasive*/chemically induced
- Child Development Disorders, Pervasive*/genetics
- Child Development Disorders, Pervasive*/physiopathology
- Child Development Disorders, Pervasive*/psychology
- Disease Models, Animal*
- Humans
- Social Behavior
- Zebrafish*
- PubMed
- 24315837 Full text @ Prog. Neuropsychopharmacol. Biol. Psychiatry
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a serious neurodevelopmental disorder with complex symptoms and unclear, multi-factorial pathogenesis. Animal (rodent) models of ASD-like behavior are extensively used to study genetics, circuitry and molecular mechanisms of ASD. The evolutionarily conserved nature of social behavior and its molecular pathways suggests that alternative experimental models can be developed to complement and enhance the existing rodent ASD paradigms. The zebrafish (Danio rerio) is rapidly becoming a popular model organism in neuroscience and biological psychiatry to study brain function, model human brain disorders and explore their genetic or pharmacological modulation. Representing highly social animals, zebrafish emerge as a strong potential model organism to study normal and pathological social phenotypes, as well as several other ASD-like symptoms. Here, we discuss the developing utility of zebrafish in modeling ASD as a new emerging field in translational neuroscience and drug discovery.