EVALUATING THE IMMOBILTY TIME IN SOCIALLY ISOLATED MICE USING FORCED SWIM TEST.
Abstract
Depression is a major neuropsychiatric disorder often associated with social isolation and stress. The present study investigated the effect of social isolation on depression-like behavior in mice using the Forced Swim Test (FST). A total of twenty mice were divided into two groups: control (group-housed) and experimental (socially isolated). After six weeks of isolation, mice were subjected to the FST to assess behavioral despair, a validated indicator of depressive-like state. Results showed that socially isolated mice exhibited a significant increase in immobility time compared to the control group, indicating heightened depressive- like behavior. These findings suggest that social isolation is a strong inducer of depression- related behavioral changes in mice and further validate the FST as a reliable tool for modeling depression in preclinical studies.
Keywords: Depression, Cognition, Social isolation, Behaviour, Immobility.
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