News & Events

When

Date - March 20, 2015
1:00 pm - 2:00 pm

What

Assistant Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Mercer University College of Pharmacy

“Validation of adolescent chronic restraint stress as an animal model of depression”

Abstract:

Childhood and adolescent stress is a risk factor for developing adult depression, which disproportionately affects women from pubescence to menopause. My talk will describe a putative animal model of depression in which adolescent chronic restraint stress leads to depressive-like behavior in adult female rats. I will discuss various assays conducted in my laboratory and the experimental findings that attempt to satisfy three important criteria for animal models: face, predictive and construct validity. I will also highlight the effects of specific classes of antidepressants in this model.