抑郁症是引起人类疾患的常见原因之一，它是一种情绪情感问题，而情绪情感是当今最缺乏研究的生物现象。因此，理解情绪情感的发生和发展机制对于了解抑郁症的病因病机起至关重要的作用。中医是一门包含情绪情感理论的最古老的学科，它发展出了一种关于基本情绪及其相互作用的理论，在大多数人类情绪疾病(包括精神障碍，如抑郁症)的病因解释和临床治疗中发挥重要作用。目前，重度抑郁症(MDD)是临床常见精神障碍，它涉及认知、情感和行为等一系列的症状表现，已成为导致残疾的主要原因，影响到全世界约17%的人口。数十年的动物和临床研究已经指出，单胺转运体的功能障碍在抑郁症的病因病机中扮演重要角色。本文拟对单胺类神经调质与祖国医学中的情绪相关理论的关系进行综述，以期为今后情绪与抑郁的研究提供理论的视角。

Depression is one of the prevalent causes of health-related human suffering and is, first and foremost, a disorder of one of the least-studied biological phenomena: emotion. Therefore, it is critically important to understand emotion, in order to understand the etiology of depression. Chinese medicine is the oldest subject about emotion, has developed a theory about basic emotions and their interactions, and also their roles in causes and therapy in most of human diseases, including mental disorders, such as depression. Nowadays, major depressive disorder (MDD) is a prevalent mental disorder with cognitive, affective and behavioral symptoms, and has been identified as a leading cause of disability, and affecting about ~17% of the populations worldwide. Decades of animal and clinical studies have pointed its etiology in dysfunctions in the monoamine transporters. Here we will review some literatures about the relationship between the monoamine neuromodulators and emotional theory in Chinese medicine, which might introduce theoretical perspectives in studies about emotion and depression.

江苏省高等学校自然科学研究面上项目（17KJD310001）：DNA甲基化介导早年母爱剥夺诱发成年抑郁的分子机制，主持人：顾思梦；国家自然科学基金（816280007）:星形胶质细胞通过调控神经元NKCC1表达介导脑损伤，主持人：王福顺；江苏特聘教授科研基金，主持人：王福顺；江苏省自然科学基金面上项目（BK20151565）：青礞石等中药抗癫痫作用的分子机制探讨，主持人：王福顺；江苏省中医药管理局重大项目（ZD201501）：青礞石等抗癫痫药物对星形胶质细胞的作用机制研究，主持人：王福顺；江苏第十二批六大人才高峰项目（2015YY006），主持人：王福顺；江苏省中西医结合优势学科资助。