Figure 1.

Proposed structural homology between zebrafish and humans for brain regions associated with human neurodevelopmental disorders and neurodegenerative diseases. (A) Adult zebrafish sections for I. telencephalon, brain and II. spinal chord. (B) Adult human sections for i., ii. telencephalon (anterior forebrain), brain and iii. spinal chord (transverse). Two hemi-sections were used (i. and ii.) to illustrate basal ganglia, hippocampus and amygdala. Regions associated with developmental disorders (blue) include cortical and subcortical structures that are vital for language, communication, memory, emotion and intellectual ability (Amaral et al., 2011; Bakhshi and Chance, 2015; Hampson and Blatt, 2015). Homologous forebrain regions for zebrafish are based on models that propose vertebrate structures that may be conserved for aspects of cognition and emotional behavior (Mueller and Wullimann, 2009; Mueller, 2012; Maximino et al., 2013; Filippi et al., 2014; Ganz et al., 2014; Wullimann, 2014). Conserved regions associated with axon degenerative diseases (red) include portions of the motor circuit and optic nerve (De Jonghe et al., 1997; Abrams et al., 2015). Zebrafish brain illustrations were adapted from Wullimann et al. (1996) and Mueller (2012). Am, amygdala; BG, basal ganglia; Ce, cerebellum; Ctx, cortex; Dc, dorsal central pallium; Dl, dorsal lateral pallium; Dm, dorsal medial pallium; DTele, dorsal telencephalon; Hip, hippocampus; Hy, hypothalamus; MN, motor neuron; PT, posterior tuberculum; Th, thalamus; ON, optic nerve.