Table 1.

Comparison of different animal models used to study sleep disturbances and depression.

Animal models	Main application fields	Pros	Cons	References
Zebrafish	Molecular mechanisms of sleep/wake rhythm	Low cost; high gene-editing efficiency and relatively well-defined behavioral phenotypes	Not yet evaluated for depression-related sleep disturbances	(47–57)
Cat	Neuroendocrine mechanisms of sleep and sleep deprivation	Quantitative research of neurotransmitters	Not yet evaluated for depression and depression-related sleep disturbances	(58–60)
Dog	Sleep-wake cycle; narcolepsy; geriatric insomnia; obstructive sleep apnoea; sleep-associated epilepsy; and REMs disorder	Shared risks of many sleep disturbances with humans	More variable and fragmented sleep pattern; not yet evaluated for depression; and depression-related sleep disturbances	(61–67)
Rodents	Depression and sleep homeostasis; sleep structure; sleep-wake cycle; neurotransmitter receptor sensitivity and neuroendocrine stress response; as well as the effects of antidepressants on sleep	Low cost; easy to manipulate and gene-editing	Nocturnal animals; shorter durations of REMs and NREMs cycles	(68–82)
Non-human primates	Sleep-related neurobiology; neuroendocrine; and behavioral pharmacological studies	Highly similar to humans in brain structure, behavior, metabolism, sleep characteristics, and circadian rhythms	Difficult to directly measure mood or thoughts; limited behavioral screening tools; and lack of the effects of antidepressants on sleep	(83–97)