Forced swim test

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The "Forced Swimming Test" (forced swimming test) to Porsolt or "Behavioral Despair Test" (Test on behavior despair) is a test which investigates the response of rodents to the danger of drowning. In order to assess the effectiveness of antidepressants, the result of this test is interpreted as a measure of sensitivity to negative moods, although this assessment is seriously doubted.

method

The test animals (rats or mice) are placed in a container made of acrylic glass which is filled with water on two consecutive days. The first attempt lasts fifteen minutes, followed by a 24 hour break, and the second attempt lasts five minutes. The length of time in the second test that the animal spends immobile is measured. Movements that are necessary to keep the head above water are not important. Various antidepressants, as well as electroconvulsive therapy , have been found to shorten the period of immobility.

In the modern implementation of the test, swimming movements and climbing movements are assessed separately because it was recognized that serotonin reuptake inhibitors increase swimming movements, whereas selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors such as desipramine and maprotiline tend to increase climbing movements.

Design controversy

Originally, immobility was interpreted as a behavioral correlate to negative mood in the second test, as it would show a kind of hopelessness in the animal. Rodents administered antidepressants swim or climb more vigorously and for longer than control test animals. This result is evaluated as evidence of the validity of the test. However, there is controversy among scholars about this interpretation: many claim that immobility is more likely to result from learning or habituation and is thus a useful adaptation ; the animal is less afraid in the second test because it is now familiar with the test room. If rats are placed in a container in the first test from which they can escape and do not experience despair as a result, they still show reduced mobility in the second test.

The term “behavioral test of hopelessness” has an anthropomorphic connotation and is also a subjective description because it is unclear whether the test is a reliable assessment of moods such as hopelessness.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ B Petit-Demouliere, F Chenu, M Bourin: the forced swimming test in mice: a review of antidepressant activity. . In: Psychopharmacology . 177, No. 3, January 2005, pp. 245-255. PMID 15609067 .
  2. ^ Franco Borsini, Giovanna Volterra, Alberto Meli: Does the behavioral “despair” test measure “despair”? . In: Physiology & Behavior . 38, No. 3, 1986, pp. 385-386. doi : 10.1016 / 0031-9384 (86) 90110-1 .
  3. ↑ RD Porsolt, Le Pichon M, M Jalfre: Depression: a new animal model sensitive to antidepressant treatments. . In: Nature . 266, No. 5604, April 21, 1977, pp. 730-732. PMID 559941 .
  4. ↑ RD Porsolt, A Bertin, M Jalfre: behavioral despair in mice: a primary screening test for antidepressants. . In: Archives internationales de pharmacodynamie et de therapie . 229, No. 2, October 1977, pp. 327-336. PMID 596982 .
  5. ^ MJ Detke, M Rickels, I Lucki: Active behaviors in the rat forced swimming test differentially produced by serotonergic and noradrenergic antidepressants. . In: Psychopharmacology . 121, No. 1, September 1995, pp. 66-72. PMID 8539342 .
  6. ↑ Porsolt forced swim test - Penn State University . Research.psu.edu. April 29, 2013. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ a b F Borsini, A Meli: Is the forced swimming test a suitable model for revealing antidepressant activity? . In: Psychopharmacology . 94, No. 2, 1988, pp. 147-160. PMID 3127840 .
  8. ^ KA O'Neill, D Valentino: Escapability and generalization: effect on 'behavioral despair'. . In: European journal of pharmacology . 78, No. 3, March 12, 1982, pp. 379-380. PMID 7067732 .