Ethanol affects numerous neurobiological processes depending upon the developmental stage at which it reaches the vertebrate embryo. Exposure time dependency may explain the variable severity and manifestation of life-long symptoms observed in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) patients. Characterization of behavioural deficits will help us understand developmental stage-dependency and its underlying biological mechanisms. Here we highlight pioneering studies that model FASD using zebrafish, including those that demonstrated developmental stage-dependency of alcohol effects on some behaviours. We also succinctly review the more expansive mammalian literature, briefly discuss potential developmental stage dependent biological mechanisms alcohol alters, and review some of the disadvantages of mammalian systems versus the zebrafish. We stress that the temporal control of alcohol administration in the externally developing zebrafish gives unprecedented precision and is a major advantage of this species over other model organisms employed so far. We also emphasize that the zebrafish is well suited for high throughput screening and will allow systematic exploration of embryonic-stage dependent alcohol effects via mutagenesis and drug screens.

乙醇影响许多神经生物学过程，具体取决于乙醇到达脊椎动物胚胎的发育阶段。暴露时间的依赖性可能解释了在胎儿酒精性谱系障碍（FASD）患者中观察到的终生症状的严重程度和表现。行为缺陷的特征将有助于我们理解发育阶段依赖性及其潜在的生物学机制。在这里，我们重点介绍了使用斑马鱼对FASD进行建模的开创性研究，包括那些表明酒精对某些行为具有发育阶段依赖性的研究。我们还简要地回顾了更广泛的哺乳动物文献，简要讨论了酒精改变可能依赖于发育阶段的生物学机制，并回顾了哺乳动物系统与斑马鱼。我们强调，在外部发展的斑马鱼中进行酒精管理的时间控制可提供前所未有的精确度，这是该物种相对于迄今为止使用的其他模型生物的主要优势。我们还强调，斑马鱼非常适合高通量筛选，并且将通过诱变和药物筛选系统地探索依赖于胚胎期的酒精效应。