Forced swim test

How 5 papers set up this test.

AI read these papers and code checked every quote. No person has reviewed the records yet. How records are made

Water temperature

Temperature of the water the animal swims in

Paper	Value	Paper’s words
Nguyen et al. 2025Mice	21–23 °C	“room temperature (21–23 °C) water”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	For habituation 23 ± 1 °C	“For habituation, animals were placed in a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter) filled with 23 ± 1 °C water”
Li et al. 2023Mice	23 °C	“filled with water, and maintained at 23 °C”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	25 ± 2 °C	“filled with water up to 25 cm height (25 ± 2 °C)”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	Cited to other work The method is cited to [32]. The brief summary prints no temperature.	“A forced swim test (FST) was conducted as described in Yankelevitch-Yahav et al. [32]”

Water depth

Depth of the water in the swim cylinder

Paper	Value	Paper’s words
Nguyen et al. 2025Mice	2/3 full	“2/3 full with room temperature (21–23 °C) water”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	For habituation 30 cm After 24 h, animals were tested 40 cm	“For habituation, animals were placed in a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter) filled with 23 ± 1 °C water to 30 cm height” “After 24 h, animals were tested in a water height of 40 cm”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	25 cm	“filled with water up to 25 cm height”
Li et al. 2023Mice	Cited to other work The buckets are filled with water but no depth is printed. The pointer covers the method as a whole and does not name depth.	“according to the method previously described [24]”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	Cited to other work The method is cited to [32]. The summary says containers filled with water and prints no depth.	“A forced swim test (FST) was conducted as described in Yankelevitch-Yahav et al. [32]”

Cylinder size

Diameter and height of the swim cylinder

Paper	Value	Paper’s words
Nguyen et al. 2025Mice	25 cm diameter × 30 cm height	“polypropylene cylindrical container (25 cm diameter × 30 cm height)”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	For habituation 60 cm height, 24 cm diameter	“For habituation, animals were placed in a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter)”
Li et al. 2023Mice	18 cm in diameter and 25 cm in height	“plastic buckets, each 18 cm in diameter and 25 cm in height”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	30 height × 10 cm diameter	“a glass cylinder (30 height × 10 cm diameter)”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	Cited to other work The method is cited to [32]. The summary says containers and prints no dimensions.	“A forced swim test (FST) was conducted as described in Yankelevitch-Yahav et al. [32]”

Session duration

How long one session in the apparatus lasts

Paper	Value	Paper’s words
Nguyen et al. 2025Mice	7 min	“For 7 min, each test mouse was allowed to swim freely”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	For habituation 15 min After 24 h, animals were tested 5 min	“For habituation, animals were placed in a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter) filled with 23 ± 1 °C water to 30 cm height for 15 min individually” “After 24 h, animals were tested in a water height of 40 cm, and activity was recorded for 5 min”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	6 min	“for 6 min and the immobility time was recorded”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	6 min	“behavior was observed for 6 min total”
Li et al. 2023Mice	Unclear 5 min The 5 min is the recording period, which follows 1 min of habituation in the bucket. The total time in the water is not printed, so 5 min may not be the full session.	“After 1 min of habituation, the immobility time (in the unit o sec) of the mice were recorded for a period of 5 min”

Other settings the papers report (17)

Settings outside the list above, named as each paper names them.

Paper	Setting and value	Paper’s words
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	After 24 h, animals were tested 24 h	“After 24 h, animals were tested”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	Animals were placed in a glass cylinder, For habituation individually	“For habituation, animals were placed in a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter) filled with 23 ± 1 °C water to 30 cm height for 15 min individually”
Li et al. 2023Mice	Buckets plastic	“plastic buckets”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Cylinder glass	“a glass cylinder”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	Dried under a red-light source, Afterward SIL-6 red light lamp	“Afterward, animals were dried under a red-light source (SIL-6 red light lamp Beurer, Hans Dinslage GmbH, Germany)”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Failed to stay afloat removed immediately	“The animals which failed to stay afloat were removed immediately”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Forced swim test day 5	“day 5—open field second run and forced swim test”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	FST paradigm was performed after the second OFT	“the FST paradigm was performed after the second OFT”
Li et al. 2023Mice	Habituation 1 min	“After 1 min of habituation”
Nguyen et al. 2025Mice	Left undisturbed 90 minutes	“placed it in a clean recovery cage, where it was left undisturbed for 90 minutes”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Non-swim time the time the mice spent immobile	“A non-swim time was measured as the time the mice spent immobile”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Placed individually	“the mice were placed individually into a glass cylinder”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	Pretest first 2 min	“the first 2 min were classified as pretest”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	Resting period between tests a minimum of 24 h	“a minimum of 24 h resting period between tests”
Ramme et al. 2025Rats	Sequence fixed sequence depicted in Fig. 1	“Behavioral tests were performed in a fixed sequence depicted in Fig. 1”
Hersey et al. 2022Mice	Test remaining 4 min	“remaining 4 min were the test”
Talalai et al. 2023Mice	Warmed under a lamp, Immediately after the test 10 min	“Immediately after the test, the mice were then dried with paper towels, warmed under a lamp for 10 min”

Apparatus

What each paper names for this test. Vendors and models appear as the paper prints them.

Paper	Apparatus	Paper’s words
Nguyen et al. 2025	Polypropylene cylindrical container	“gently placed into a polypropylene cylindrical container (25 cm diameter × 30 cm height)”
Ramme et al. 2025	Glass cylinder	“a glass cylinder (60 cm height, 24 cm diameter)”
Ramme et al. 2025	Red-light source Beurer, Hans Dinslage GmbH, Germany, SIL-6 red light lamp	“dried under a red-light source (SIL-6 red light lamp Beurer, Hans Dinslage GmbH, Germany)”
Ramme et al. 2025	EthoVision^® XT Noldus Information Technology, Netherlands	“using the software EthoVision^® XT (Noldus Information Technology, Netherlands)”
Li et al. 2023	Plastic buckets	“the mice were placed into plastic buckets”
Talalai et al. 2023	Glass cylinder	“a glass cylinder (30 height × 10 cm diameter)”
Talalai et al. 2023	Lamp	“warmed under a lamp for 10 min”
Talalai et al. 2023	Paper towels	“dried with paper towels”
Hersey et al. 2022	Containers	“mice were placed in containers filled with water”
Hersey et al. 2022	Noldus EthoVision	“Rodent behavior was analyzed using Noldus EthoVision (Leesburg, VA, USA)”