A discrete neuronal population coordinates brain-wide developmental activity.

In vertebrates, stimulus-independent activity accompanies neural circuit maturation throughout the developing brain. The recent discovery of similar activity in the developing Drosophila central nervous system suggests that developmental activity is fundamental to the assembly of complex brains. How such activity is coordinated across disparate brain regions to influence synaptic development at the level of defined cell types is not well understood.

Habituation of the C-start response in larval zebrafish exhibits several distinct phases and sensitivity to NMDA receptor blockade.

The zebrafish larva has been a valuable model system for genetic and molecular studies of development. More recently, biologists have begun to exploit the surprisingly rich behavioral repertoire of zebrafish larvae to investigate behavior. One prominent behavior exhibited by zebrafish early in development is a rapid escape reflex (the C-start).