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Updated: Jul 16, 2026

A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats
Published on: February 22, 2018
Cognitive and serotonergic vulnerability to depression: convergent findings
Linda Booij1, A J Willem Van der Does
1Department of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Abstract:
Cognitive reactivity (CR) is a psychological vulnerability marker of depression, whereas response to acute tryptophan depletion (ATD; a serotonergic challenge procedure) is a biological vulnerability marker. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between these markers. Thirty-nine remitted depressed patients participated in 2 ATD sessions in a double-blind crossover design. CR, assessed prior to the ATD sessions, predicted depressive response to high-dose ATD. CR also diminished the effects of 2 known predictors of ATD response: gender and residual symptoms. Neuroticism and behavioral inhibition were unrelated to ATD response. CR is associated with an increased sensitivity to reductions of serotonin concentrations. These findings present a small step toward unifying cognitive and neurobiological theories of depression.
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