Trends in Neurosciences
OpinionEmerging from the bottleneck: benefits of the comparative approach to modern neuroscience
Section snippets
Biological diversity as a resource for neuroscience
Model species such as the fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), the nematode ‘worm’ (Caenorhabditis. elegans), zebrafish (Danio rerio), the rat (Rattus rattus), and, most predominantly, the mouse (Mus musculus) have played an important role in biology. A given species may offer particular advantages for the study of a biological process, such as rapid embryonic development, accessible nervous systems, or ease of maintenance in the laboratory. The advantages of model species have become more
Potential limitations of the model species approach
Over the past 20 years or so, neuroscience and much of biology in general has coalesced from the traditional embrace of diverse species down to a small number of model species. There are various practical reasons for this process of concentration. Model species tend to be readily available, easily maintained in captivity, and are feasible to breed in large numbers. As a species becomes a well-established model for a research community, there is an exponential growth in the amount of available
Benefits of comparative approaches
Having discussed the potential limitations of the model species approach, we will consider the positive benefits of the comparative approach in which studies are designed to exploit species diversity in neural mechanisms.
A clear benefit is the potential for discovering novel adaptations that may have broad transformative impact. An example is the study of ongoing neurogenesis in adult brains. The addition of new neurons to the brain of adults of higher vertebrates was first suggested in the
Concluding comments: looking backward, looking forward
During the years when neuroscience was emerging as a distinct field of study, pioneering investigators worked on an eclectic variety of wild species, choosing the species for the question [5], rather than the question for the (model) species – as is too often the case now. Research on marine invertebrates, insects, fish, salamanders, frogs, turtles, chicks, and bats played a large role in developing this field. Pioneering neuroscientists and physiologists such as Ted Bullock, Steven Kuffler,
Acknowledgments
Our research is funded by the NIH (grants MH53032 and NS075331 to E.A.B.), the Department of Army (grant W911NF-14-1-0265 to H.H.Z.), a Carl Friedrich von Siemens Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (to H.H.Z.), and a traveling scientist award from the Virginia Merrill Bloedel Hearing Research Center at the University of Washington, Seattle (to H.H.Z.).
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2022, Progress in NeurobiologyCitation Excerpt :In summary, comparative studies of strategically chosen non-mammal species can perhaps replace mouse research in some instances and address some of the limitations discussed previously (Keifer and Summers, 2016). Thus, the combination of a comparative approach with the advantages of model systems would lead to more rigorous research in neuroscience (Brenowitz and Zakon, 2015; Maximino et al., 2015). Unfortunately, the potential of these species has been often underestimated, both by funding agencies and journal editors.
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