Judgement bias tests of animal affect and hence welfare assume that the animal's
responses to ambiguous stimuli, which may herald positive or negative outcomes, are under …

Rationale Affective biases are hypothesised to contribute to the cause and treatment of
mood disorders. We have previously found that affective biases, associated with learning …

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is one of the most prevalent psychiatric disorders. Until the
recent discovery of the rapid onset antidepressant action of ketamine, pharmacological …

Affective states are known to influence behavior and cognitive processes. To assess mood
(moderately long-term affective states), the cognitive judgment bias test was developed and …

Recent findings have revealed that pharmacological enhancement of dopaminergic (DA)
function by the administration of a DA precursor (dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine; L-DOPA), but …

An active‐choice, operant, ambiguous‐cue interpretation (ACI) paradigm is described that
can be used for measuring cognitive judgement bias in rats. In this behavioral test, animals …

Given the serious nature of suicidal ideation and behavior (SIB) and the possibility of
treatment-emergent SIB, pharmaceutical companies are now applying more proactive …

Background Mood and anxiety disorders are ubiquitous but current treatment options are
ineffective for large numbers of sufferers. Moreover, recent years have seen a number of …

The experience of chronic stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of major
depressive disorder. Prolonged stress induces a state of chronically elevated glucocorticoid …

To cope with a changing environment, animals have traditionally been considered to
behave adaptively to each situation faced. Yet, individual behavioural responses can both …