Drug treatment of anxiety: implications for animal models

Benzodiazepines are currently the drugs of choice in the treatment of anxiety, and a specific response to benzodiazepines is the central feature of animal models of anxiety. However, the benzodiazepines, in addition to their anxiolytic properties, have a wide range of non-specific cerebral depressant effects. Conversely, numerous non-benzodiazepines have been used to relieve anxiety, and antidepressants are at least as effective as benzodiazepines in some anxiety states. Buspirone and certain other 5-HT receptor ligands also appear to be clinically active, but are relatively inactive in some of the animal models validated by their response to benzodiazepines.