Our brains are built to consider and reflect on the unknown. These adaptive features
protect us from potential threats in dynamic and complex environments, but they can
also lead us to perseverate on perceived threats and fear an unknown future. Ranging
across a spectrum from adaptive to maladaptive, anxious and fearful behavior exists
in many animal species. In an effort to develop new therapeutics and understand the
etiology of anxiety-related conditions, such as anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive
disorder, panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder, research using laboratory
animal models has focused on the genetic, molecular, cellular, and brain systems contribution
to anxiety and fear. Persistent debates on the translational validity of animal models—including
worms, flies, fish, mice, and primates—demonstrate that research efforts should not
be monolithic and that diversity and convergence in observed mechanisms across species,
subspecies, and strains is an important factor in the collective effort to identify
evolutionarily conserved pathways to select as translational targets.
SEE CORRESPONDING ARTICLE ON PAGE 638
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References
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Article info
Publication history
Accepted:
July 29,
2020
Received:
July 27,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Society of Biological Psychiatry.
