Depression is one of the most common disease, but the pathophysiologic mechanism of depression remains elusive. To elucidate the cellular and molecular mechanisms of depression, animal models of depression have been developed, and these models
were
used
successfully to predict the clinical efficacy of new antidepressant drugs. However, it is not likely that current animal models imitate all aspects of depression and are reliable, because we can not evaluate emotional state of rodents verbally
and
rodents have very different behavioral responses compared with ours. Despite these difficulties, understanding the benefits and limitations of animal models is very important for an advance in basic and clinical research of depression. The first
part of
the review evaluates animal models of depression in relation with stress that may contribute, in part, to development of depression：chronic mild stress, chronic unpredictable stress, maternal separation. The second part describes the most widely
used
animal models to screen for potential antidepressant：learned helplessness model and forced swimming test
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