Current protocols in neuroscience / editorial board, Jacqueline N. Crawley ... [et al.]
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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) occurs with high prevalence, and the drugs used to treat OCD are limited in efficacy and have side-effect issues. The discovery of improved medicines for OCD has been hampered in part by the lack of predictive in vivo models. This unit provides a brief overview of two methods that might have such predictive utility. ⋯ Selective serotonin uptake inhibitors decrease these behaviors without producing motor side effects, as assessed by the behavior of walking on a rotating rod. In contrast, some other drugs (e.g., benzodiazepine anxiolytics) only affect marble burying and nestlet shredding at motor-impairing doses. The present methods might therefore provide one piece of in vivo information for the discovery of novel chemical treatment solutions for the symptoms of OCD.