article_snippet: But scientists have now found that Macaque monkeys show similar signs of depression to humans, such as shying away from a group, losing scientists appetite and adopting a hunched posture.
article_snippet: By studying creatures in a social situation, scientists hope to learn more about why humans may become depressed, which could improve treatment for the debilitating mental disorder.
article_snippet: Scientists have found that Macaque monkeys show similar signs of depression to humans, such as shying away from a group (shown in E) and adopting a hunched posture (shown at A, B, D and E).
article_snippet: Previous studies have used rodents, which 'do not realistically resemble the etiopathological [causal] development of depression, which occurs naturally in a social context,’ according to the study, published in Nature.
article_snippet: Researchers at Chongqing Medical University, China, and Wake Forest University in North Carolina, examined depression in cynomolgus macaque monkeys living in social colonies at Zhongke Experimental Animal Co. in Suzhou, eastern China.
article_snippet: Feeding: The depressed monkeys spent less time eating and drinking than The depressed monkeys healthy peers.
article_snippet: A total of 52 colonies were observed and 1,007 female monkeys screened for depression, Real Clear Science reported.
article_snippet: Twenty females showing symptoms of depression, such as no interest in food, grooming or mating, were chosen and compared to 20 ‘happy’ monkeys and 10 that had been kept in isolation and were also thought to be depressed.
article_snippet: The researchers found that the naturally depressed and isolated monkeys behaved in a similar way, such as ‘stereotypical prostrated and socially unresponsive posture as well as exacerbation of socially submissive behaviours,’ the study said.
article_snippet: Naturally depressed monkeys  displayed a slumped posture, less interest in feeding and sex and diminished communication and reciprocal grooming with others. '
article_snippet: The authors believe that The authors monkey model of depression mimics real life and is closer to how depression develops than humans (illustrated with a stock image) than rodent models .
article_snippet: As well as behavioural changes, The authors also identified metabolic differences between depressed and healthy monkeys, which has also been witnessed in humans.
article_snippet: The healthy monkeys spent longer feeding and drinking compared to The healthy monkeys depressed peers who were not as interested in eating, for example.
article_snippet: The authors believe that The authors monkey model of depression mimics real life and is closer to how depression develops in humans than rodent models.
article_snippet: ‘This model's stable depression phenotype demonstrates superior validity to traditional rodent models of depression by better approximating the psychosocial stressors encountered by adult humans living in a resource-based competitive society and can aid further investigation into the mechanisms underlying depression,’ adult humans living in a resource-based competitive society wrote.
highlights_snippet: Studying primates in social situation may shed light on human depression .