Brain stimulation for psychiatric disorders: Insight from animal models

In this symposium, we will tackle several examples of studies conducted in animal models to unravel the mode of action of different methods of non-invasive brain stimulation used to treat psychiatric disorders in human. First, Sylvie Gory-Faure will highlight the essential role of neural survival for short- and long-term efficacy of electroconvulsive stimulation in an animal model of depression (MAP6 KO mouse). Then, Vincent Van Waes will present behavioral and neurobiological data on the beneficial impact of repeated anodal transcranial direct stimulation on cognition, depression- and addiction-related behaviors in mice. Robrecht Dockx will describe a new accelerated high frequency (aHF) repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation protocol tested in dogs. Finally, Dimitri De Bundel will talk about the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation to modulate fear extinction in a mouse model based on auditory fear conditioning. To conclude, the necessity to carry out translational studies to accelerate the development of brain stimulation techniques that have a strong therapeutic potential in human will be discussed.