Zebrafish (Danio rerio) models of substance abuse: harnessing the capabilities

Zebrafish are fast becoming one of the most widely used animal models in systems biology and developmental genetics, but their potential as models for behavioural neuroscience is only just beginning to be realised. This progress is dependent upon the rate at which behavioural assays for adult zebrafish are designed, reported and validated. As models for drug abuse and addiction, this species has been shown thus far to show high face validity, in that they show robust place preference for drug-related cues, as well as evidence for withdrawal, relapse and compulsive drug seeking. This review will outline the case for using zebrafish as models to study endophenotypes relating to drug addiction.