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Article
Separation, Sickness, and Depression: A New Perspective on an Old Animal Model
Current Directions in Psychological Science
  • Michael B. Hennessy, Wright State University - Main Campus
  • Patricia A. Schiml-Webb, Wright State University - Main Campus
  • Terrence Deak
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-1-2009
Abstract

Studies of prolonged separation from the attachment figure that were conducted with infant monkeys during the middle of the 20th century identified a passive behavioral response, termed “despair,” that appeared to model human depressive illness. Studies in guinea pigs, which exhibit filial attachment that resembles attachment in monkeys, have described a similar passive response to briefer periods of maternal separation. Recent evidence indicates that elements of the immune system mediate the passive behavioral response of guinea pigs. These findings accord well with current ideas that immune responses contribute to depressive illness, suggest new hypotheses about how maternal separation might promote depression, and give us a rodent model in which such hypotheses might be tested.

DOI
10.1111/j.1467-8721.2009.01641.x
Citation Information
Michael B. Hennessy, Patricia A. Schiml-Webb and Terrence Deak. "Separation, Sickness, and Depression: A New Perspective on an Old Animal Model" Current Directions in Psychological Science Vol. 18 Iss. 4 (2009) p. 227 - 231 ISSN: 0963-7214
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/michael_hennessy/30/