This review analyzes current progress in the modeling of depressive disorders in animals. The criteria and classification systems for existing models are considered, as are approaches to assessing the validity of models. Despite the use of numerous approaches to modeling depressive states, based not only on impairments to the motivational mechanisms of the brain, but also on impairments to the emotional mechanisms, no satisfactory model creating a stable depressive state has yet been developed. Nonetheless, the diversity of existing models is undoubtedly positive, as it provides for targeted studies of individual neurobiological mechanisms and patterns of development of depressive states in humans, as well as studies of the mechanisms of action and predictions of the pharmacological profiles of potential drugs for the treatment of depression.
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Translated from Zhurnal Vysshei Nervnoi Deyatel’nosti imeni I. P. Pavlova, Vol. 65, No. 6, pp. 643–660, November–December, 2015.
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Grigor’yan, G.A., Gulyaeva, N.V. Modeling Depression in Animals: Behavior as the Basis for the Methodology, Assessment Criteria, and Classification. Neurosci Behav Physi 47, 204–216 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0386-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11055-016-0386-7