Animal Models for Assessing Anxiolytic, Neuroleptic, and Antidepressant Drug Action

The preclinical behavioral analysis of effects of psychiatric drugs may be seen from two viewpoints. On the one hand it is neceβary to identify drugs that may be useful for treating psychiatric disorders. With this approach the basic question is: “Does a drug fit into the particular claβ of drugs that is useful in treating a specific condition?” It should be noted that in this context the only neceβary feature of a screening procedure is the ability to identify a clinically effective compound. In this sense there does not have to be any similarity between the behavior measured in the laboratory animal and the psychiatric disorder in question. Alternatively there is the attempt to understand mechanisms of action of these psychotherapeutic drugs. In this context it is neceβary to attempt the measurement of those features of drug action that are critical for the alleviation of psychiatric symptoms. The first goal, i.e., identifying drugs that may be clinically useful, and the second goal, i.e., analyzing the mechanisms of action of psychotherapeutic drugs with animal behavior, are in fact intertwined. This chapter is written from a pragmatic viewpoint utilizing currently acceptable ideas to illustrate major approaches to the problem of using or developing an animal model.