Genetic Mouse Models of Psychiatric Disorders: Advantages, Limitations, and Challenges

The mental well-being of humans depends on the discovery of the causes of mental illnesses and the use of this knowledge to direct the generation of new treatments and the development of preventive measures. In this context, defining how we can exploit the power of animal models in investigative strategies designed to understand and manipulate candidate causal factors remains a critical challenge. The fact that mental illnesses are uniquely human disorders does not negate the feasibility of developing and using relevant animal models, but only defines the challenge and sets the limitations of an animal model. Because the field is still in its infancy, addressing the roles and targets of animal models of mental illnesses effectively and responsibly will require additional empirical data, as well as critical thinking from scientists, journal editors, and funding agencies. In this chapter, we discuss some general guidelines for the development of genetic mouse models of psychiatric disorders and offer a theoretical framework for the interpretation of their analysis. At the end, we discuss some results and practical issues emerging from our ongoing work on a genetic mouse model of schizophrenia.