Forced Swim Test
Objective: Assessment of depression-like behavior through measurement of swimming and immobility in mice
Gather these items before starting the experiment. Check off items as you prepare.
Equipment1
not specified • not specified • not specified • not specified
Materials2
Software1
not specified • not specified
1 item available from ConductScience
As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Product links help support this free resource.
Protocol Steps
Animal acclimation to testing room
Animals were given habituation time to the behavioral testing room before testing commenced
Note: Behavioral phenotyping was performed between 0900h and 1600h
View evidence from paper
“Animals were given 30 min of habituation to the behavioral testing room. Behavioral phenotyping was performed between 0900 h and 1600 h.”
Test sequence ordering
Tests were performed in a specific order from least to most invasive to minimize influence of prior test history. For baseline testing: rotarod, elevated plus maze, marble burying test, open field test, sucrose preference test, novelty suppressed feeding, and forced swim test. After chronic restraint stress, this order was reversed for bell-shaped stress exposure.
Note: Forced swim test was the final test in baseline sequence
View evidence from paper
“Tests were performed from the least to the most invasive to minimize the influence of prior test history (in order: rotarod, elevated plus maze, marble burying test, open field test, sucrose preference test, novelty suppressed feeding and forced swim test”
Conduct forced swim test
Perform forced swim test on mice to assess depression-like behavior through measurement of swimming and immobility
Note: Specific parameters of the forced swim test (water temperature, tank dimensions, duration, etc.) are referenced as being in Supplementary Materials and Methods
View evidence from paper
“forced swim test; see Supplementary Materials and Methods for details”