To improve our knowledge of the causal mechanisms of stress-related disorders, and to bridge the gap between experimental models and the situation in humans, several experiments were conducted to assess the validity of the psychosocial stress paradigm in tree shrews as a model for depression. Since tree shrews are easily disturbed, move fast, and need to be individually housed (which hinders observing different animals at the same time), it is impossible to observe them in front of their cages. The Observer Video-Pro was succesfully used to overcome this problem. The psychosocial stress model in tree shrews proved to be useful for studying the effects of stress on behavioral symptoms and to investigate the effects of antidepressant treatment on these depressive-like symptoms. 

[full paper]