The authors suggest that the activity of neurotransmitter systems in the
affective disorders and related psychiatric syndromes may be better
understood as a reflection of a relative failure in their regulation,
rather than as simple increases or decreases in their activity. A model
organized around the concept of "dysregulation" posits that persistent
impairment in one or more neurotransmitter homeostatic regulatory
mechanisms confers a trait vulnerability to unstable or erratic
neurotransmitter output. Evidence from clinical and animal model studies
for dysregulation of the noradrenergic system in depression is examined
with respect to criteria generated by such a general model, and a specific
configuration of noradrenergic dysregulation in some forms of depression is
proposed.Abstract Teaser