Author(s)

Zhao Zixi ¹

Affiliation(s)

¹ High School Attached to Northeast Normal University, No. 377, Boxue Road, Jingyue District, Changchun City, Jilin Province, China

Corresponding Author

Zhao Zixi

ABSTRACT

As depression has become a serious global health issue, animal models are essential for understanding its underlying mechanisms and developing new treatments. The Tail Suspension Test (TST) is a widely used assay that induces a state of behavioral despair in rodents, which serves as a key indicator of depression-like behavior. In this study, mice first undergo a period of light deprivation to induce a depressive state. Subsequently, the TST is used to assess their behavior. The primary metric is immobility time—the duration for which a mouse ceases to struggle when suspended. It is hypothesized that mice subjected to light deprivation will exhibit significantly longer immobility times compared to control mice, reflecting a state of learned helplessness. This model is expected to be valuable for screening new antidepressant compounds and providing a theoretical basis for novel therapeutic strategies.

KEYWORDS

Depression, Tail Suspension Test, Light Deprivation

CITE THIS PAPER

Zhao Zixi, Tail Suspension Test for Evaluating Mice's Depression-Like Behaviors. MEDS Public Health and Preventive Medicine (2025) Vol. 5: 110-115. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.23977/phpm.2025.050216.

REFERENCES

[1] Can, A., Dao, D. T., Arad, M., Terrillion, C. E., Piantadosi, S. C., & Gould, T. D. (2012). The tail suspension test. Journal of Visualized Experiments, (59), e3769. https://doi.org/10.3791/3769
[2] Harro, J. (2019). Animal models of depression: Pros and cons. Cell and Tissue Research, 377(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-018-2973-0
[3] Ueno, H., Takahashi, Y., Murakami, S., Wani, K., Matsumoto, Y., Okamoto, M., & Ishihara, T. (2022). Effect of simultaneous testing of two mice in the tail suspension test and forced swim test. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 8963. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-12986-9
[4] World Health Organization. (2023, March 31). Depressive disorder (depression). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/depression

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