Critique: Research strategies for decoding the neurochemical basis of resistance to stress.

Because stress is implicated in serious psychiatric and physical illnesses, it is important to investigate the central neurochemical mechanisms which determine resistance to stress. Two features of much existing animal work limit its relevance to man. First, it has disregarded differences between individuals, focussing instead on group means. Secondly, it has concentrated on noxious forms of stress. Preliminary studies suggest that inferences from this work may not apply to individual differences, or to non-noxious stress. Therefore, a strategy is proposed for addressing the neurochemical basis of individual differences in resistance to non-noxious stress.