Behavioral despair during a water maze learning task in mice.
In the case of mice, when the difficulty of a water maze learning task is increased, some animals gradually cease to swim, abandon adaptive learning, and become immobile. We trained 99 male C57BL/6N mice in a pool containing a hidden platform. The pool was surrounded by white featureless walls, and almost all external cues were removed. On the eighth day of escape training, 36 inferior-learners exhibited behavioral despair. The predictive validity of the inferior-learners as a depression model was verified by testing their sensitivity to clinically efficacious antidepressants. The inferior-learners treated with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), fluvoxamine, or a serotonin noradrenaline reuptake inhibitor (SNRI), milnacipran, resumed swimming and adaptive learning. Because of facial similarities between inferior-learners and depressive patients and their sensitivity to antidepressant drugs, our experimental method is expected to be an effective tool in basic research on depression.
Doe
Nobutaka
N
Section of Behavioral Science, Kouiken Co., Ltd., Akashi, Hyogo, Japan.
Takahashi
Tsutomu
T
Kiriyama
Mika
M
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D003521:Cyclopropanes / Q000494:pharmacology; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000523:psychology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004924:Escape Reaction / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D016666:Fluvoxamine / Q000494:pharmacology; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D000078764:Milnacipran; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology
D003521:Cyclopropanes; D016666:Fluvoxamine; D000078764:Milnacipran; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors