For over three decades, the zebrafish has advanced preclinical biomedical research: hundreds of individuals can be studied simultaneously, and even whole-brain activity can be recorded in living animals. Its limitation, however, lies in its social nature: as a schooling species, its behavior is always influenced by the presence—or absence—of conspecifics. This means that when studied in isolation, results may be skewed by its innate social tendencies.
Two fish species, two strategies—a new model to study working memory
