{"id":267,"date":"2007-09-20T13:05:39","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T18:05:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ezing.me\/transfer\/?p=267"},"modified":"2014-09-23T09:25:33","modified_gmt":"2014-09-23T14:25:33","slug":"psychology-profs-animal-model-explores-treatment-of-anxiety-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web20.olemiss.edu\/news\/wordpress\/psychology-profs-animal-model-explores-treatment-of-anxiety-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Psychology Prof’s Animal Model Explores Treatment of Anxiety, Depression"},"content":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. – A novel animal model of clinical depression
\ndevised by a University of Mississippi research
\npsychologist shows promise for better diagnosis and
\ntreatment of the syndrome and may result in a technology
\npatent for the university.<\/span>
\n

“There is certainly room for improvement across the board
\nin treating those who suffer from clinical depression.
\nResearchers are beginning to identify new areas in the
\nbrain that we need to target for better drug therapy
\ntreatment,” said the researcher Ken Sufka, UM professor of
\npsychology and pharmacology.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\nSufka is also a research scientist at the National Center
\nfor Natural Products Research, a unit of the UM School of
\nPharmacy. He has been studying the connection between
\nanxiety and depression for several years, seeking ways to
\nbetter diagnose and treat clinical depression.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nBesides developing a novel animal model of this clinical
\nsyndrome, Sufka’s study suggests that anxiety may be a
\nprelude to a depressive disorder. His research includes
\nwork with socially raised chicks, which were monitored in
\nobservation chambers and the frequency of their
\nvocalizations automatically tallied.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nAllan Kalueff, a research fellow at Finland’s University of
\nTampere Medical School, said single-disorder models have
\ndominated experimental neuroscience for years, which is at
\nodds with the actual complexity of clinical phenotypes. To
\nalleviate this deficit, Kalueff said the field clearly
\nneeds new approaches for mimicking the anxiety-depression
\npathogenesis.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“A novel model from Dr. Sufka and his colleagues not only
\naddresses this need but also condenses the
\nanxiety-depression continuum into a short testing period,”
\nKalueff said. “Representing an important methodological
\nadvance, this model is highly congruent with newly
\nappreciated concepts of commonality between stress-related
\nbrain disorders.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSufka explained that during the initial five to 10 minutes
\nof separation, the chicks chirp loudly, displaying anxiety
\nas they call out to their social companions. After 20 to 30
\nminutes, the chirping diminished by about half as the
\nchicks entered what appeared to be a state of depression.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“More importantly, we have shown the model to be extremely
\nsensitive to anti-anxiety and antidepressant drugs,” Sufka
\nsaid.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“We were the first laboratory to describe the
\nanxiety-depression continuum in fowl chicks,” he said. “By
\nusing chicks, it’s a cost-efficient alternative to the more
\nexpensive rodent model; further, we can conduct two drug
\nscreenings in one experiment.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nWalter Chambliss, UM director of technology management in
\nthe Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, said his
\nteam is working to help secure future research
\nopportunities.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The university has filed a patent to protect this novel
\ndrug discovery method,” Chambliss said. “We are actively
\nseeking one or more licensing partners within the
\npharmaceutical industry to commercialize the patent-pending
\ntechnology.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn the December 2006 issue of the peer-reviewed journal
\nBehavioural Pharmacology, Sufka presents his novel
\nanxiety-depression continuum model and argues against the
\nconventional belief that anxiety and depression are
\nseparate clinical syndromes.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nIn a follow-up article, soon to be published in the Journal
\nof Psychopharmacology, Sufka demonstrates the
\npharmacological sensitivity of the chick model as a
\npotential drug screening test.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“The old school view is that anxiety and depression are
\nseparate clinical syndromes and not at all related,” Sufka
\nsaid. “New research tells us this is wrong, and now we need
\nto reconceptualize our way of approaching and dealing with
\nthese related mental health conditions.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSufka said he believes the new animal model can be used in
\nresearch to better understand the brain events that occur
\nduring anxiety and depression, as well as to search for
\nchanges in the brain system that help identify targets for
\ndrug development.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nSufka’s research team consisted of former UM health and
\nexercise science professor Edmund Acevedo and four former
\nUM students, including three doctoral students and a Sally
\nMcDonnell Barksdale Honors College student. Funding for the
\nwork has come solely from on-campus sources.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“This work represents the most recent culmination of a
\ncareful and programmatic line of research done over the
\nyears by Dr. Sufka and his colleagues on distress
\nvocalizations in chicks,” said UM psychology chair Michael
\nAllen. “This careful progression of studies serves as an
\nexemplar for how good research can be done.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nThe team is conducting validation studies, including the
\ntesting of approximately 12 new drugs that show promise in
\ntreating depression, Sufka said.
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n“Our next step is to examine changes in brain chemistry
\nthat parallel the presentation of the anxiety and
\ndepression phases,” Sufka said. “We hope these brain
\nchanges will offer clues to new targets in the development
\nof novel antidepressant drugs.”
\n<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\nFor more information, contact Sufka at 662-915-7728 or
\npysufka@olemiss.edu. To learn more about the Department of
\nPsychology, visit
\nhttp:\/\/www.olemiss.edu\/depts\/psychology\/.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OXFORD, Miss. – A novel animal model of clinical depression devised by a University of Mississippi research psychologist shows promise for better diagnosis and treatment of the syndrome and may result in a technology patent for the university.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[222],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPsychology Prof's Animal Model Explores Treatment of Anxiety, Depression - Ole Miss News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/news.olemiss.edu\/psychology-profs-animal-model-explores-treatment-of-anxiety-depression\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Psychology Prof's Animal Model Explores Treatment of Anxiety, Depression - 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