Animal models of depression and anxiety: What do they tell us about human condition?

I D Neumann; G Wegener; J R Homberg; H Cohen; D A Slattery; J Zohar; J D A Olivier; A A Mathé

doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.028

Animal models of depression and anxiety: What do they tell us about human condition?

Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2011 Aug 1;35(6):1357-75. doi: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.028. Epub 2010 Dec 1.

Authors

I D Neumann¹, G Wegener, J R Homberg, H Cohen, D A Slattery, J Zohar, J D A Olivier, A A Mathé

Affiliation

¹ Dept of Behavioural Neuroendocrinology, Faculty of Biology and Preclinical Medicine, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.

PMID: 21129431
DOI: 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2010.11.028

Abstract

While modern neurobiology methods are necessary they are not sufficient to elucidate etiology and pathophysiology of affective disorders and develop new treatments. Achievement of these goals is contingent on applying cutting edge methods on appropriate disease models. In this review, the authors present four rodent models with good face-, construct-, and predictive-validity: the Flinders Sensitive rat line (FSL); the genetically "anxious" High Anxiety-like Behavior (HAB) line; the serotonin transporter knockout 5-HTT(-/-) rat and mouse lines; and the post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) model induced by exposure to predator scent, that they have employed to investigate the nature of depression and anxiety.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Anxiety
Depression
Disease Models, Animal*
Humans
Mental Disorders* / drug therapy
Mental Disorders* / genetics
Mental Disorders* / physiopathology
Mental Disorders* / psychology
Translational Research, Biomedical / methods*