Major depressive disorder is a common, complex, and potentially life-threatening mental
disorder that imposes a severe social and economic burden worldwide. Over the years …

Eating disorders and obesity have become predominant in human society. Their association
to modern lifestyle, encompassing calorie-rich diets, psychological stress, and comorbidity …

Animals housed in artificial habitats are confronted by a wide range of potentially
provocative environmental challenges. In this article, we review many of the potential …

The impact of ostensibly aversive social stresses on triggering, amplifying and prolonging
intensely rewarding drug taking is an apparent contradiction in need of resolution. Social …

Animal studies over the past two decades have led to extensive advances in our
understanding of pathogenesis of depressive and mood disorders. Among these, rodent …

Social conflict models have been proposed as a powerful way to investigate basic questions
of how brain and behavior are altered by social experience. Social defeat, in particular …

Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has multiple roles in the central nervous system
(CNS), including maintaining cell survival and regulation of synaptic function. In CNS …

Stress activates multiple neural and endocrine systems to allow an animal to respond to and
survive in a threatening environment. The corticotropin-releasing factor system is a primary …

The link between social factors, stress and health has been the focus of many
interdisciplinary studies mostly because:(i) animals, including humans, often live in …

Exposure to traumatic events can increase the risk for major depressive disorder (MDD) as
well as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and pharmacological treatments for these …