Animal models of depression: navigating through the clinical fog

TY - JOUR

T1 - Animal models of depression

T2 - navigating through the clinical fog

AU - Matthews, Keith

AU - Christmas, David

AU - Swan, John

AU - Sorrell, Eleanor

PY - 2005

Y1 - 2005

N2 - Animal models of human disease have proven of considerable value in elucidating basic pathophysiological mechanisms and in developing novel treatments. However, modelling human mental disorders in experimental animals is fraught with difficulties. Depression models generally lack both clinical and scientific credibility and have, thus far, failed to inform treatment strategies previously acquired through serendipity. The complexity and heterogeneity of the clinical states labelled 'depression' dictate that we continue to work with a crude and uninformative taxonomy within which 'core' clinical and pathophysiological features of depression are not clearly identified. Consequently, much of the neuroscience of animal modelling is framed around physiological and neurobiological phenomena that may be of relevance to only a minority of patients. Additionally, inferring pathophysiology from apparent treatment responses overestimates the efficacy of existing treatments and tends to ignore reliable demonstrations of the 'antidepressant effects' of non-pharmacological interventions. Whilst animal modelling remains a potentially important approach towards understanding neurobiological mechanisms in depression, we need to address the poverty of reliable clinical science that should inform model development.

AB - Animal models of human disease have proven of considerable value in elucidating basic pathophysiological mechanisms and in developing novel treatments. However, modelling human mental disorders in experimental animals is fraught with difficulties. Depression models generally lack both clinical and scientific credibility and have, thus far, failed to inform treatment strategies previously acquired through serendipity. The complexity and heterogeneity of the clinical states labelled 'depression' dictate that we continue to work with a crude and uninformative taxonomy within which 'core' clinical and pathophysiological features of depression are not clearly identified. Consequently, much of the neuroscience of animal modelling is framed around physiological and neurobiological phenomena that may be of relevance to only a minority of patients. Additionally, inferring pathophysiology from apparent treatment responses overestimates the efficacy of existing treatments and tends to ignore reliable demonstrations of the 'antidepressant effects' of non-pharmacological interventions. Whilst animal modelling remains a potentially important approach towards understanding neurobiological mechanisms in depression, we need to address the poverty of reliable clinical science that should inform model development.

KW - Animals

KW - Antidepressive Agents

KW - Clinical Trials as Topic

KW - Depression

KW - Depressive Disorder

KW - Disease Models, Animal

KW - Humans

KW - Individuality

KW - Psychotherapy

KW - Stress, Physiological

U2 - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.03.005

DO - 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2005.03.005

M3 - Article

C2 - 15925695

SN - 0149-7634

VL - 29

SP - 503

EP - 513

JO - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

JF - Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews

IS - 4-5

ER -