Stress plays a key role in pathogenesis of anxiety and depression. Animal models of these disorders are widely used in behavioral neuroscience to explore stress-evoked brain abnormalities, screen anxiolytic/antidepressant drugs and establish behavioral phenotypes of gene-targeted or transgenic animals. Here we discuss the current situation with these experimental models, and critically evaluate...

Laboratory rats are usually kept in relatively small cages, but research has shown that they prefer larger and more complex environments. The physiological, neurological and health effects of standard laboratory housing are well established, but fewer studies have addressed the sustained emotional impact of a standard cage environment. One method of assessing affective states in animals is to l...

Background The opioid drug buprenorphine has been shown to modify responses to emotional stimuli and may have antidepressant properties. In preclinical studies, it shows antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects, and a handful of clinical studies suggest it may reduce symptoms of depression in patients. We have shown that low doses of buprenorphine reduce responses to negative emotional s...

Lithium not only has a mood-stabilizing effect but also the augmentation effect of an antidepressant, the mechanism of which remains unclear. Although lithium may augment the effect of mirtazapine, this augmentation has not been confirmed. Using a contextual fear conditioning test in rats, an animal model of anxiety or fear, we examined the effect of subchronic lithium carbonate (in diet) in co...

Introduction Evaluation of anxiety and depression in cardiac patients is an area of nursing practice that is frequently neglected. The aim of the study was to explore anxiety and depression in hospitalized patients with their first episode of acute myocardial infarction. Material and methods The study sample included 148 hospitalized patients who had a first episode of acute myocardial infarc...

conclusions from the results, it was concluded that agricultural lands around pakistan council of scientific and industrial research (pcsir) campus lahore were rich sources of industrially important streptomyces, especially s. avermitilis. results the 10 selected isolates were identified as the avermectin-producing strain by fermentation and characterized on isp2 medium for aerial and reverse s...

background & objectives: nanotechnology is one of great important part of technology. nanoparticles can be used in different applications for industrial, medical, military and personal use. the objectives of this study were preparation of polystyrene/zno nanocomposite films via a simple method and investigation of antibacterial activity of them. methods: polystyrene /zno nanoparticle (ps/n...

It is now well established that vestibular information plays an important role in spatial memory processes. Although vestibular lesions induce anxiety in humans, this finding remains controversial in rodents. However, it is possible that anxiety-related behavior is associated with spatial memory impairments after vestibular lesions. We aimed to evaluate anxiety-like behavior and the effect of a...

In human beings, susceptibility to anxiety disorders can be relatively high during adolescence. Understanding the ontogeny of anxiety-like behavior in laboratory rodents has implications for developing anxiolytic drugs that are suitable for this age group. Given the dearth of information about adolescent rodents, this study examined the response of both male and female adolescent, late adolesce...

BACKGROUND Antidepressants and anxiolytics have demonstrated short-term efficacy; however, little is known about the long-term effectiveness of these drugs. AIMS To investigate long-term psychiatric outcomes following antidepressant and/or anxiolytic use during an episode of mental disorder in mid-life. METHOD Members of the 1946 British birth cohort were assessed for symptoms of depression...