Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
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Neuropsychopharmacology · May 2019
ReviewWiring the depressed brain: optogenetic and chemogenetic circuit interrogation in animal models of depression.
The advent of optogenetics and chemogenetics has revolutionized the study of neural circuit mechanisms of behavioral dysregulation in psychiatric disease. These powerful technologies allow manipulation of specific neurons to determine causal relationships between neuronal activity and behavior. ⋯ In comparison, chemogenetics have been relatively underutilized, despite offering unique advantages for probing long-term effects of manipulating neuronal activity. The ongoing development of optogenetic tools to probe in vivo function of ever-more specific circuits, combined with greater integration of chemogenetic tools and recent advances in vivo imaging techniques will continue to advance our understanding of the circuit mechanisms of depression.