Meeting report: can we make animal models of human mental illness?
Open accessAbstract
Modeling aspects of the human condition in animals has provided invaluable information on the physiology of all organ systems and has assisted in the development of virtually all new therapeutics. Research in cardiovascular disease, cancer, immunology, and other disciplines has benefited substantially from the availability of animal models that capture aspects of specific human diseases and that have been used effectively to advance new treatments. By comparison, animal models for neurological and psychiatric disorders have faced several unique obstacles. This paper highlights topics covered in a recent Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory meeting charged with examining the status of animal models for mental illness. The consensus of the conference is that despite the difficulties inherent with modeling brain disorders in animals, when used judiciously-fully cognizant that models of specific behavioral or biological aspects cannot completely recapitulate the human disorder-animal research is crucial for advancing our understanding of neuropsychiatric disease.
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Well-defined cognitive constructs (e.g., cognitive control, reward sensitivity, negative affective bias) can be studied across species.
“First, well-defined cognitive constructs (e.g., cognitive control, reward sensitivity, or negative affective bias) can be studied across species (Monteggia et al. 2018).”
From Deep brain stimulation for psychiatric disorders: From focal brain targets to cognitive networks (2021) · cites this paper as Monteggia et al. 2018
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- [1]Banbury Center Reports (2016): Can we make animal models of human mental illness? A Critical Review. 8 21–23, 2016, Cold Spring Harbor, New York.
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- Authors
- Monteggia, L. M., Heimer, H., & Nestler, E. J.
- Affiliations
- The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (US)
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (US)
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nestler, Eric J.
- Venue
- Biological Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2018-10
- Volume
- 84
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 542-545
- ISSN
- 0006-3223 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC6269650
- OpenAlex
- W2790249888
- Cited by
- 60
- References
- 13
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 8 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 6
- FWCI
- 7.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Biological Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Institutional Repository (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (P50MH096890, R01MH051399)
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (P01DA008227)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Veterinary › Small Animals › Animal testing and alternatives
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Memory and Neural Mechanisms
- Keywords
- animal models of psychiatric disorders, mental illness, neuropsychiatric disorders, psychiatric neuroscience, translational research, behavioral models, brain disorders
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Mental Disorders, Congresses as Topic, Disease Models, Animal, Models, Genetic, Nervous System Diseases, Consensus
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