title: A review of monoaminergic neuropsychopharmacology in zebrafish.
abstract: Monoamine neurotransmitters are the major regulatory mechanisms in the vertebrate brain, involved in the adjustment of motivation, emotion, and cognition. The chemical anatomy of these systems is thought to be highly conserved in the brain of all vertebrates, including zebrafish. Recently, the development of behavioral assays in zebrafish allowed the neuropsychopharmacological investigation of these circuits and its functions. Here we review neuroanatomical, genetic, neurochemical, and psychopharmacological evidence regarding the roles of histaminergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic, serotonergic, and melatonergic systems in this species. We conclude that, in spite of species differences, zebrafish are suitable for the investigation of neuropsychopharmacology of drugs that affect theses systems; nonetheless, more thorough validation of behavioral methods is still needed.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Neuroendocrinologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal do Pará, Belém/PA, Brazil. caio@ufpa.br
authors.forename: Caio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Maximino
authors.forename: Anderson Manoel
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Herculano
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D006801:Humans; D023421:Models, Animal; D009480:Neuropharmacology / Q000379:methods*; D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D015027:Zebrafish
chemical_list: D018377:Neurotransmitter Agents