Stanford, SC;
(2020)
Some Reasons Why Preclinical Studies of Psychiatric Disorders Fail to Translate: What Can Be Rescued from the Misunderstanding and Misuse of Animal 'Models'?
Alternatives to Laboratory Animals
, 48
(3)
pp. 106-115.
10.1177/0261192920939876.
Preview |
Text
Some Reasons Why Preclinical Studies of Psychiatric Disorders Fail to Translate.pdf - Published Version Download (199kB) | Preview |
Abstract
The repeated failure of animal models to yield findings that translate into humans is a serious threat to the credibility of preclinical biomedical research. The use of animals in research that lacks translational validity is unacceptable in any ethical environment, and so this problem needs urgent attention. To reproduce any human illness in animals is a serious challenge, but this is especially the case for psychiatric disorders. Yet, many authors do not hesitate to describe their findings as a ‘model’ of such a disorder. More cautious scientists describe the behavioural phenotype as ‘disorder-like’, without specifying the way(s) in which the abnormal behaviour could be regarded as being analogous to any of the diagnostic features of the disorder in question. By way of discussing these problems, this article focuses on common, but flawed, assumptions that pervade preclinical research of depression and antidepressants. Particular attention is given to the difference between putative ‘models’ of this illness and predictive screens for candidate drug treatments, which is evidently widely misunderstood. However, the problems highlighted in this article are generic and afflict research of all psychiatric disorders. This dire situation will be resolved only when funders and journal editors take action to ensure that researchers interpret their findings in a less ambitious, but more realistic, evidence-based way that would parallel changes in research of the cause(s), diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric problems in humans.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Some Reasons Why Preclinical Studies of Psychiatric Disorders Fail to Translate: What Can Be Rescued from the Misunderstanding and Misuse of Animal 'Models'? |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1177/0261192920939876 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0261192920939876 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Life Sciences & Biomedicine, Medicine, Research & Experimental, Research & Experimental Medicine, animal model, depression and antidepressants, endophenotype, Forced Swim Test, predictive drug screen, psychiatry, psychopharmacology, translation, validity, FORCED SWIM TEST, OPEN-FIELD TEST, LEARNED HELPLESSNESS, BEHAVIOR, DEPRESSION, STRESS, RAT, EMOTIONALITY, TESTS |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10119945 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
