Animal Models

Abstract

Basic research using animal models has been an important tool for understanding the mechanisms involved in developmental disorders. In addition, it is fundamental for the proposal of new therapeutic approaches that can be applied in humans. The use of animal models in research is a practice used since ancient Greece and that has been transformed since then to improve the conditions of animals, aiming at their well-being and minimizing the stress to which they are subjected. In Brazil, the great milestone for the care of experimental animals was the approval of the Arouca Law of 2008, with the creation of the National Council for the Control of Animal Experimentation (CONCEA) and the Ethics Committees in the Use of Animals (CEUA) to regulate animal research in the country. The correct choice of animal models to study developmental disorders must take into account their ability to reproduce the symptoms, the pathophysiological aspects and the response to treatments of the clinical condition studied. The study of anxious, depressive and motivated states, in addition to the ability to learn and memory are some of the behaviors that can be evaluated in animals. The evaluation of these behaviors can provide very important information in the elucidation of the mechanisms involved in various disorders, such as the autism spectrum, depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, specific learning disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.