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Non-specificity of "behavioral despair" as an animal model of depression
When mice are forced to swim in a restricted space, they will cease attempts to escape and adopt a characteristic immobile posture which can be readily identified and timed. Imipramine decreased the duration of immobility in a 4 min swimming test in a dose-related manner. Likewise, caffeine, triiodothyronine and pentobarbital reduced immobility. These latter findings shed doubt upon the specificity of the behavioral despair swimming test to identify substances with antidepressant activity.
When mice are forced to swim in a restricted space, they will cease attempts to escape and adopt a characteristic immobile posture which can be readily identified and timed. Imipramine decreased the duration of immobility in a 4 min swimming test in a dose-related manner. Likewise, caffeine, triiodothyronine and pentobarbital reduced immobility. These latter findings shed doubt upon the specificity of the behavioral despair swimming test to identify substances with antidepressant activity.