Antidepressant-like effects of transcorneal electrical stimulation in rat models.

Background: Given that visual impairment is bi-directionally associated with depression, we examined whether transcorneal electrical stimulation (TES), a non-invasive treatment for visual disorders, can ameliorate depressive symptoms.

Objective: The putative antidepressant-like effects of TES and the underlying mechanisms were investigated in an S334ter-line-3 rat model of retinal degeneration and a rat model of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS).

Methods: TES was administered daily for 1 week in S334ter-line-3 and CUS rats.

Chronic mild stress paradigm as a rat model of depression: facts, artifacts, and future perspectives.

Rationale: The chronic mild stress (CMS) paradigm was first described almost 40 years ago and has become a widely used model in the search for antidepressant drugs for major depression disorder (MDD). It has resulted in the publication of almost 1700 studies in rats alone. Under the original CMS procedure, the expression of an anhedonic response, a key symptom of depression, was seen as an essential feature of both the model and a depressive state.