Chronic mild stress-induced anhedonia: a realistic animal model of depression.
Chronic sequential administration of a variety of mild stressors causes a decrease in responsiveness to rewards in rats, which is reversed by chronic administration of antidepressant drugs. This paper reviews the validity of chronic mild stress-induced anhedonia as an animal model of depression, and the evidence that changes in hedonic responsiveness in this model are mediated by changes in the sensitivity of dopamine D2 receptors in the nucleus accumbens. The review opens with an analysis of the design features of animal models of depression, and ends with a brief account of other animal models of anhedonia.
Willner
P
P
Department of Psychology, City of London Polytechnic, London, UK.
Muscat
R
R
Papp
M
M
D000818:Animals; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D012201:Reward; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology*