“Conventional behavioural mouse models of depression are often used to study the disorder, but cannot capture the full picture of the human disease.” In this essay, Monteggia and Malenka/Deisseroth present two views about the best research strategies to adopt if treatments for depression are to be improved. Monteggia discusses putting therapies first. Studying the biological mechanisms that underpin effective, rapidly acting antidepressants is useful here. By contrast, Malenka/Deisseroth focus on fixing faulty circuits. By understanding more about the circuitry involved, they feel that the field would be ready to move beyond 50 years of stagnation and make history, not repeat it. This article is part of a Nature issue dedicated to depression. See: Nature Volume 515 Number 7526 pages 163-304.
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Monteggia LM, Malenka RC and Deisseroth K: Depression: the best way forward. Nature 515 (7526): 200-201 (2014); doi: 10.1038/515200a.
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25391955