The Giacomotto lab (GRIDD/Griffith University) used our swim tunnel system to study the behavioural and physical effects of removing neurexin (nxrn) genes, which are associated with neurodevelopmental and mental disorders.

Here they generated the first complete set of zebrafish knockouts for the neuroxin gene family (NRXN1, NRXN2, NRXN3). Allowing them to study the impact of losing each gene during development and adulthood.

Using a comprehensive battery of developmental and behavioural tests, which includes our swim tunnel system, they found that during early development, loss of neurexin had no obvious impact on embryonic development, brain morphology, or early life behaviour.  In adulthood, however, significant behavioural changes emerged.

The findings revealed clear differences between neurexin family members. Loss of NRXN1 primarily affected social behaviour and aggression, while NRXN2 loss produced severe anxiety-like behaviour, reduced exploration, freezing episodes, and increased susceptibility to seizure-like events.

They observed that NRXN1 and NRXN2 mutants responded in opposite ways to environmental context. Conditions that reduced anxiety-like behaviour in NRXN2 mutants exacerbated abnormal behaviour in NRXN1 mutants, suggesting these genes may regulate how the brain interprets and responds to environmental cues.

The study confirms the value of zebrafish for investigating the biological foundations of psychiatric disorders. By combining genetics, behaviour, and physiological assays researchers explore how genetic changes lead to adult behavioural outcomes, and support future drug discovery efforts.

If you want to read the article in full, or learn more about Loligo Systems swim tunnels and other tools, please visit the link in the comment below.

The paper titled Towards modelling mental disorders in zebrafish. Neurexins severely modulate anxiety, affiliative social behaviour and aggression is published in Molecular psychiatry and can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03721-1

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