Behavioral rodent models of eating disorders

Eating disorders represent an unmet medical need which implies a serious burden for the patients and their families. While anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa are among the most widely reported diseases, the newly published DSM-5 has recently distinguished the - thus far - diagnostically neglected binge-eating disorder as a specific nosologic unit for the first time. Available therapeutic options for the treatment of eating disorders are very limited and generally based on psychological or psychiatric interventions. However, pharmacological research exploiting numerous physiological signaling systems is currently being conducted in order to develop innovative therapies of these disorders. This research calls for a wide range of animal models which must be wisely employed with respect for the purpose of individual studies and the validity of particular models. The objective of this chapter is to provide an overview of well-validated behavioral animal models of anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating and operant conditioning for natural rewards with special attention dedicated to evidence of face, construct and predictive validities of these models and potential sex-dependent differences.