Zebrafish Synthesis

New neurons added during human development associate with existing mature neuronal circuits in the brain to maintain some plasticity in an ever-changing world of new experiences. The zebrafish brain also continuously integrates these newborn neurons into existing neuronal circuits during development and growth. This conservation has allowed Boulanger-Weill et al. the ability to further study the morphological and functional development of these immature neurons using zebrafish. They showed that dendritic arbors in newborn neurons became more complex throughout maturation and displayed a GABAergic or glutamatergic identity at the end of maturation. Furthermore, early newborn neurons had a collective response to a visual stimulus similar to functionally