Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

PSYCH 473 > Animal Models of Depression > Flashcards

Animal Models of Depression Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
Psychology 101 flashcards GRE® Psychology flashcards
1
Q

What are the criteria for an animal model of depression?

A

be reasonably analogous i symptomatology to the human disorder

cause behavioral changes that can be objectively monitored

produce behavioral changes that are sensitive to the same treatment modalities as are effective in humans

should be reproducible between investigators

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What is construct validity in animal models?

A

similarity between the methods by which the models is induced and the etiology of disease as compared to humans

genetic and environmental factors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is predictive validity in animal models?

A

utility of the model to predict drug effects

assumes similarities in effect are based on shared mechanism

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is face validity in animal models?

A

ability of the model to recreate key features of a disease

anatomical, behavioral, and neurochemical features of diseases

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is a model?

A

methods used to induce a depressive state in subjects

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What is a test?

A

analysis used to evaluate or quantify the depressive state

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What is the relationship between models and tests?

A

a model is dependent on the validity of tests to validate the depressive phenotype

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What are the measurable endophenotypes of depression in rodents?

A

anhedonia
anxiety-related behaviors
neuroendocrine disturbances
behavioral despair
appetite or weight changes
altered sleep architecture
cognitive changes
cognitive affective bias
neuroanatomical changes

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How is despair measured in rodents?

A

despair-based tests are one of the oldest models currently in use

based on the time an animal spends struggling to escape an inescapable situation

behavioral correlates are speculative with the human condition

sensitive to antidepressants with or without an inducible model (e.g. chronic stress)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is the forced swimming test (FST)?

A

in a 5 minute period measure time spent immobile

immobility is presumed to be an indicator of despair

sensitive to MAOI and TCA antidepressants

mixed findings with SSRI

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is the tail suspension test?

A

similar to FST

limited to mouse models due to behavioral differences

sensitive to a range of antidepressants

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What are the strengths of despair models?

A

FST and TST have high reproducibility

simple and inexpensive

high predictive validity to antidepressants

TST is amenable to high throughput

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What are the limitations of despair models?

A

can be measured against a baseline that is non-depressed (face validity?)

sensitive to confounds: hypothermia (FST), locomotion, motivation, stimulation/fatigue

sensitive to acute AD treatments: time course in FST/TST does not match clinical observations

validity with non-monoamine treatments is unknown

construct validity not demonstrable (ethics)

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How is anhedonia measured in animal models of depression?

A

as a major component of depressive disorders in humans anhedonia is a promising model

used in conjunction with a model that induces a depressed state - higher face validity

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

What is the sucrose preference test?

A

provide animals with a choice of water sweetened with sucrose vs unsweetened

preference for sweetened water diminished with induction of depressive model

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What is intracranial self-administration/stimulation?

A

implanted electrode in various locations to activate reward circuitry

depressive models lead to decrease in self-stimulation

sensitive to antidepressants

17
Q

What are the strengths of anhedonia measures?

A

high face validity when used with an appropriate induction model of depression

sensitive to chronic but not acute AD treatment (good predictive validity)

measures affective state and motivation

18
Q

What are the limitations of anhedonia measures?

A

cost and complexity (e.g., ICS)

invasive (i.e., ICS)

not well elevated in all models of depression

19
Q

What are the models of depression?

A

coupled with testing paradigms to assess treatment efficacy

models with high construct and face validity are used to evaluate mechanisms underlying depressive disorders

lesion-based, pharmacological, stress-based, genetic

20
Q

What are the pharmacological models of depression?

A

used primarily to test antidepressants affecting monoamine neurotransmitters

have high predictive validity but very low face validity

have been key in development of monoamine-based pharmacotherapies

21
Q

What is reserpine?

A

reserpine treatment blocks monoamine uptake into vesicles by VMAT (vesicular monoamine transporter)

decreased vesicular uptake increases monoamine metabolism by MAO and COMT leading to depletion of monoamines: induces mood changes in healthy volunteers

syndrome characterized by locomotor hypomotility and reduced body temperature, reversed by acute AD treatments

22
Q

What is 5-hydroxytryptophan?

A

treatment with 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP, precursor to 5-HT) leads to elevated serotonin and a behavioral syndrome

AD effects measured as an increase in behavioral syndrome above baseline 5-HTP

sensitive to acute AD treatments

does not model depressive behaviors

23
Q

How is psychostimulant withdrawal used as a model of depression?

A

withdrawal from cocaine or amphetamine produces depressive-like symptoms including anhedonia, immobility, etc

reversed by antidepressant treatments

24
Q

What are stress-based depression models?

A

consistent with the HPA axis model of depression

rely on behavioral conditioning to induce depressive behaviors

have high face validity and generally show consistent endocrine and biochemical changes as in human depression

25
Q

What is the learned helplessness model?

A

animal exposed to repeated and unavoidable electric shock

subjects show deficits such as decreased escape in FST/TST, cognitive and reward behaviors (sucrose preference)

acute model - stress effects last only a few days

responds to acute antidepressant treatment

limited in practice by ethical considerations

limited construct validity

26
Q

What is the chronic mild model?

A

uses a range of mild stressors to induce a depressive state over days - weeks

results in long-lasting changes in behavior and neurochemistry including decreased sucrose preference and intracranial self-stimulation, stress-induced grooming deficits, changes in corticosterone levels

has high inter-lab variability and is very labor intensive

high construct validity

27
Q

What is the social stress model?

A

dyadic models use resident-intruder paradigms involving repeat exposure to an aggressive dominant animal

group social paradigms use social instability (mixing a stable social group) or social disruption (high aggressive male introduced)

social stressors lead to anhedonia, neuroendocrine changes that are reversed by long-term antidepressant treatment

high construct validity

28
Q

What is the maternal deprivation model?

A

pups are separated from dam for 1 to 24 hours during the first two postnatal weeks

separation increases depressive behaviors including anxiety, anhedonia, and HPA axis activation that persists into adulthood

use of mice allows high throughput

behavioral changes are affected by chronic antidepressant treatment

29
Q

What are genetic models of depression?

A

emerging models using genetic approaches to identify and model genetic determinants of depression

these can include analyses of polymorphisms found in depressed patients, genetic screens for changes that are coincident with depressive behaviors, or selective breeding for depressive traits

30
Q

What is the forward genetics approach?

A

blinded approach used to randomly mutagenize genomic DNA

offspring are characterized for depressive behaviors

genetic changes are mapped

31
Q

What is the reverse genetics approach?

A

inserting targeted changes in genomic DNA to produce a depressive behavior: polymorphisms identified in humans, targeting components of biological hypothesis

reconstitute genetic risks observed in humans: good construct validity

can be used to model gene x environment interactions

32
Q

How was selective breeding used to create the Rouen mouse?

A

tests such as the TST have inter-animal variability

researchers crossed mice in high-response TST and low-response TST groups for 5 generations

developed TST-sensitive and TST-resistant groups with measurable changes in neurotransmitter levels and activity

likely coincident rather than causal changes

most differences were in dopaminergic systems, and the TST-resistant group was more susceptible to stresses outside of the TST (electric shocks)

PSYCH 473 (14 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions