The authors would like to thank Gali Breuer for her assistance in the video production.&#160;This research was supported by the Israel Ministry of Science, Technology &#38; Space (grant no. 313552), by the National Institute for Psychobiology in Israel (NIPI-208-16-17b) and by the Open University Foundation.

All methods described here have been approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Academic College Tel-Aviv-Yaffo.
1. Animals
<ol>
	<li>Use pre-adolescent (i.e., 3 weeks old) Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) outbred male mice.</li>
	<li>Randomize mice to two equally sized stress group (UCMS vs. na&#239;ve). Use 15 mice per treatment group (e.g.: if there are 3 pharmacological treatment groups use 90 mice overall; 2 [UCMS vs. na&#239;ve] &#215; 3 [tre...

Insofar as MDD is a widespread highly debilitating disorder, only partially addressed by current therapeutic options, the scientific quest for better treatments is still a pressing issue. Along with innovations in psychological techniques, additional pharmacotherapies are required for the large portion of patients who do not respond to the existing drugs. Meticulous animal models for depression are the key element in this task. Such models facilitate screenings for innovative antidepressants and expand the understanding ...

Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a debilitating condition, that has been indicated as the 11th cause of global burden from disease1, with a lifetime prevalence of 11&#8211;16%2,3. MDD has been associated with severe impairments on patients&#39; social and occupational functioning, diminished quality of life, numerous mental and physical disorders and increased risk for mortality4,5,6,7. There are several efficacious pharmacotherapies and psychological interventions for MDD; however, more than the third of the patients do not achieve remission with the existing therapeutic options8,9,10,11. Therefore, better mapping of the pathophysiology of MDD and development of novel drugs are still of utmost importance. In order to address these tasks scientifically validated animal models needs to be utilized.
Unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) is a renowned rodent paradigm used to induce depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors12,13,14,15. The main objective of UCMS is to generate behavioral deficits (such as anhedonia and behavioral despair12,15) in mice and rats, and promote screenings for potential therapeutic pharmacological agents. The procedure was first introduced by Katz16 and subsequently developed by Willner17,18, yielding vast behavioral and neurobiological outcomes reminiscing depressive symptomatology12. It was initially designed for rats and later accommodated to mice13,19. In the procedure, adolescent animals are chronically exposed to different unpredictable mild stressors. Subsequently, pharmacological agents are administered. Behavioral and biological indices are obtained upon treatment termination. One of the more prominent tests conducted following UCMS is the sucrose preference test (SPT). The SPT is based on rodents&#39; innate preference for the sweetened solution rather than water and is widely acknowledged as an essential translational model for assessing anhedonia12,18,20,21 (which is a core symptom in human depression22,23).
While entering the fourth decade since its introduction, UCMS has been applied on mice and rats in myriad studies. The majority of these studies employed UCMS as a method to induce depressive-like behaviors12,13,21,24. Studies have also employed the model to generate anxiogenic effects25,26,27,28,29. Sucrose and saccharin preferences are the main tests used to assess anhedonia following UCMS12,18,30,31,32,33. Other notable outcome measures that are highly incorporated in UCMS literature are: the tail suspension test (TST)28,34,35, the forced swim test (FST)28,34,36,37 (both measuring stress coping/behavioral despair), the open field test (OFT; measuring exploratory behavior, anxiety-like behavior and locomotor activity)25,28,38, the elevated plus maze (EPM; measuring anxiety-like behavior)25,39,40 and additional tests measuring depressive-like behaviors, anxiety-like behaviors, cognitive functioning and social behavior12. Chronic administration of tricyclic antidepressants (TCAs; imipramine35,41,42,43, desipramine18,44,45), tetracyclic antidepressants (TeCAs; maprotiline46,47, mianserin48), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs; fluoxetine46,47,49, escitalopram30,50, paroxetine51,52), melatonin43,49, agomelatine53, the fatty acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB59754 and several natural compounds30,37,50,55,56,57,58 have been demonstrated to reverse the UCMS-induced depressive- and anxiety-like symptoms. Overall, these therapeutic effects have not been obtained via acute treatments12 (e.g., paroxetine51,52, imipramine53,54,59,60, fluoxetine53, agomelatine53, URB59754, brofaromine60).
Stress exposure during childhood and adolescence is a major risk factor for the anterior formation of MDD (among several other psychiatric disorders) in adulthood61,62,63. The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is a major neuroendocrine system regulating the bio-behavioral response to stress64. Long-term stress during the sensitive neurodevelopmental periods of childhood and adolescence impairs the equilibrium of the HPA axis. It might provoke a state of enhanced sympathetic activation, unbalanced reactivity and hypercortisolemia lasting through the resting state; thus, rendering individuals vulnerable to the depression or anxiety-related psychopathologies65,66,67,68. UCMS adequately translates this pathogenesis: stress application during mice&#39; adolescence induces a long-term depressive-like susceptibility. Moreover, the behavioral deficits induced by UCMS, are underlain by significant alterations in HPA axis functioning (e.g., by causing a reduction in hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor [BDNF; a protein highly involved in the equilibrium of the HPA axis69,70]30, or by impairing the regulation of corticosterone secretion to the blood71,72), in similarity to the pathophysiology in humans12,50,73.
UCMS has several bolstering features as a model for depression: e.g. (i) the elicitation of anhedonia (which is regarded an endophenotype of MDD23,74); (ii) UCMS enables to assess wide variety of depressive-like behaviors such as behavioral despair, reduced social behavior, deterioration in fur state and more34; and (iii) chronic (2-4 weeks), but not acute, administration of antidepressants following stress exposure could produce a protracted therapeutic effect parallel to the effect obtained in human patients by the same agents30,75,76,77.
These features strengthen the validity of UCMS compared to other animal models of depression. The FST78 and the TST79 are two models that are used either to induce or to assess depressive-like behavior. As models for inducing depressive-like behaviors they have clear shortfalls compared to UCMS; they do not prompt long-term behavioral changes and might merely reflect an adjustment to acute stress rather than yield a durable depressive-like manifestation76.
An alternative animal model of depression is the social defeat model. Unlike the FST and the TST this model (like UCMS) require the application of chronic stress (id est [i.e.], the recurrent subjection of the animal to aversive social encounters with dominant counterparts)76,77,80,81,82. The main advantage of the social defeat model is that it employs social stimuli as stressors, thus reflecting the role of psychosocial stress in the pathogenesis of human depression. Similar to UCMS, the social defeat model elicits long-term depressive-like behaviors and neuroendocrine alterations. Yet again parallel to UCMS, the social defeat-induced deficits could be reversed via chronic, but not acute, administration of antidepressants. Overall, there is large support for the utilization of both UCMS and social defeat as pre-clinical apparatuses for investigating the pathophysiology of depression76,77,81,82. However, a major shortfall of the social defeat model is that it could only be applied on male rodents, as females do not exhibit sufficient aggressive behavior toward each other83. Contrastingly, UCMS has been shown to produce several depressive-like effects on both male and female mice34.
Predictable chronic mild stress (PCMS) is another rodent model that enforces a regimen of daily recurring exposure to restraint stress28,84,85,86,87. Several studies have shown that PCMS increased anxiety-like behaviors28,87; albeit, there are contradictory reports vis-&#224;-vis PCMS ability to induce long-term depressive-like behaviors. Unlike UCMS, PCMS has produced less satisfactory results referring to its ability to induce an anhedonic-like state28,84,86. This is consistent with the human phenomenology, in which unpredictable stressors are more harmful than predictable ones88.

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>Heating lamp</td>
			<td>Ikea</td>
			<td>AA-19025-3</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Heating pillow</td>
			<td>Sachs</td>
			<td>EF-188B</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Mice restrainer</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Portable electronic balance (*.** g)</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Standard rubber stopper, size 5</td>
			<td>Ancare</td>
			<td>#5.5R</td>
			<td>To avoid spillage during SPT</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Straight open drinking tube (2.5&#34;)</td>
			<td>Ancare</td>
			<td>OT-100</td>
			<td>To avoid spillage during SPT (insert drinking tube into rubber stopper)</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>2% sucrose solution</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>50ml conical centrifuge tube</td>
			<td></td>
			<td></td>
			<td>For the SPT</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>Pre-adolescent (approximately 20-days old) ICR outbred mice</td>
			<td>Envigo</td>
			<td>Hsd:ICR (CD-1)</td>
			<td></td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

the unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol for inducing anhedonia in mice

Depression is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition, only partially addressed by current pharmacotherapies. The lack of response to treatment by many patients prompts the need to develop new therapeutic alternatives and to better understand the etiology of the disorder. Pre-clinical models with translational merits are rudimentary for this task. Here we present a protocol for the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) method in mice. In this protocol, adolescent mice are chronically exposed to interchanging unpredictable mild stressors. Resembling the pathogenesis of depression in humans, stress exposure during the sensitive period of mice adolescence instigates a depressive-like phenotype evident in adulthood. UCMS can be used for screenings of antidepressants on the variety of depressive-like behaviors and neuromolecular indices. Among the more prominent tests to assess depressive-like behavior in rodents is the sucrose preference test (SPT), which reflects anhedonia (core symptom of depression). The SPT will also be presented in this protocol. The ability of UCMS to induce anhedonia, instigate long-term behavioral deficits and enable reversal of these deficits via chronic (but not acute) treatment with antidepressants strengthens the protocol&#39;s validity compared to other animal protocols for inducing depressive-like behaviors.

In order to corroborate the efficacy of the UCMS procedure for inducing depressive-like deficits, a manipulation check was conducted. Male ICR outbred mice were randomly assigned to either UCMS or na&#239;ve conditions (4 weeks, as described in protocol&#160;2.2). Subsequently, the SPT (6 days, as described in protocol&#160;4) was administered to assess whether mice after undergoing UCMS demonstrated hedonic deficits. Shortly after, mice were sacrificed and the hippocampus was dissected o...

Watch this Scientific Journal Video about The Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Inducing Anhedonia in Mice at JoVE.com

The Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Inducing Anhedonia in Mice

Here we present the unpredictable chronic mild stress protocol in mice. This protocol induces a long-term depressive-like phenotype and enables to assess the efficacy of putative antidepressants in reversing the behavioral and neuromolecular depressive-like deficits.

Depression is a highly prevalent and debilitating condition, only partially addressed by current pharmacotherapies. The lack of response to treatment by ...

The main advantage of this technique is that it adequately translates major neurobiological and behavioral features implicated in the pathogenesis, etiology, and treatment of depression. This method can help answer key questions in understanding the pathophysiology of anxiety and depression and promote the development of novel pharmacological treatments. The implication of this technique extend for therapy of depression, because it enables screenings for potential antidepressants while resembling the protracted course of remission evident in human patients.Begin by filling home cages with fresh sawdust, and add a piece of cotton wool for enrichment. House animals in the home cage for an acclamation period of one week, and keep a consistent 12-hour light/dark cycle. Allow ad libitum access to rodent chow and water.Design a four-week stressor regimen in which each of the seven stressors is utilized once a week, on a different day each week. After one week of acclamation, initiate application of the stressors on the four-week-old mice in the UCMS room. For the first stressor, place mice together with their home-cage counterparts in an empty cage.Fill the empty cage with water kept at 24 plus-or-minus-one degrees Celsius to a depth of one centimeter, and keep mice in the wet cage for four hours. Then transfer each mouse to a separate individual transient drying cage with a heat lamp above it, a heating pad under it, and paper towel bedding. Place a thermometer in the transient cage to verify the temperature does not exceed 37 degrees Celsius.Keep each mouse in the transient cage until it is dry and looks invigorated, and then return mice to the home cage with the same counterparts. For dampened sawdust, poor water kept at 24 plus-or-minus-one degrees Celsius into the home cage until the sawdust is moderately dampened. After four hours, dry the mice in transient cages.Then place the mice with home-cage counterparts in a sterile cage with fresh sawdust. For the next stressor, tilt the cage at 45 degrees against the wall for four hours. For Empty Cage, transfer all five mice along with their specific home-cage counterparts from the home cage to an empty cage for four hours.For the fifth stressor, transfer mice along with their specific home-cage counterparts from the home cage to a cage which was housed by a different group of mice for a period of at least three days prior to stressor application. Keep mice in the unfamiliar cage for four hours. For the sixth stressor, place each mouse separately in a clean mouse restrainer for four hours.After that, return mice to the home cage with the same counterparts. For the last stressor, transfer mice in their home cage with their specific counterparts to the UCMS room. Keep the light on for 24 consecutive hours.Finally, after stressor application, return the cages of the UCMS group from the UCMS room to the housing room. During the four weeks of stress exposure, keep the naive group in their home cages located in the housing room. On the day following cessation of the UCMS protocol, start administration of putative therapeutic pharmacological agents.After the treatment phase, remove each mouse from the home cage and place it individually in a cage filled with fresh sawdust and a piece of cotton wool for enrichment. Then prepare two bottles, one with distilled water, and another with 2%sucrose solution. Weigh the two bottles and set them at both ends of the cage lid and place rodent chow between the two bottles to allow mice ad libitum access to both solutions and food for a period of 24, 48, 72, or 144 hours.After 12 hours, or once a day if the test duration exceeds 24 hours, weigh the bottles to estimate consumption from each bottle and switch the positions of the nozzles to counterbalance the possibility that the results were confounded by position preference. Finally, weigh the bottles each day to estimate consumption from each bottle. The UCMS group demonstrated diminished sucrose preference compared to the naive group, suggesting that the UCMS protocol was effective in inducing anhedonia.Furthermore, the UCMS group demonstrated diminished hippocampal BDNF levels compared to the naive group, suggesting that the UCMS protocol led to the diminution in hippocampal BDNF levels as evident in human depression. Results indicated that the UCMS saline group demonstrated a significant decrease in sucrose preference compared to the naive saline group as well as compared to both the UCMS escitalopram and the UCMS NHT groups, suggesting both escitalopram and NHT normalized the UCMS-induced anhedonia. In addition, the UCMS saline group demonstrated decreased hippocampal BDNF levels compared to the naive saline group as well as compared to both the UCMS escitalopram and the UCMS NHT groups, suggesting that both escitalopram and NHT normalized the UCMS-induced reduction in BDNF levels in the hippocampus.Following this procedure, other methods like tail suspension test, forced swim test, and elevated plus-maze can be performed. These tests are used to assess behavioral despair as well as exploratory and anxiety like behavior.

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16.9K vistas.  The Academic College Tel-Aviv-Yaffo. La principal ventaja de esta técnica es que traduce adecuadamente las principales características neurobiológicas y conductuales implicadas en la patogénesis, etiología y tratamiento de la depresión. Este método puede ayudar a responder preguntas clave en la comprensión de la fisiopatología de la ansiedad y la depresión y promover el desarrollo de nuevos tratamientos farmacológicos. La implicación de esta técnica se extiende para la terapia de depresión, ya que permite realizar ...

Video: The Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Protocol for Inducing Anhedonia in Mice

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using a murine model of psychosocial stress in pregnancy as a translationally relevant paradigm for psychiatric disorders in mothers and infants

Using a Murine Model of Psychosocial Stress in Pregnancy as a Translationally Relevant Paradigm for Psychiatric Disorders in Mothers and Infants

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Using Chronic Social Stress to Model Postpartum Depression in Lactating Rodents

Exposure to chronic stress is a reliable predictor of depressive disorders, and social stress is a common ethologically relevant stressor in both animals and humans. However, many animal models of depression were developed in males and are not applicable or effective in studies of postpartum females. Recent studies have reported significant effects of chronic social stress during lactation, an ethologically relevant and effective stressor, on maternal behavior, growth, and behavioral neuroendocrinology. This manuscript will describe this chronic social stress paradigm using repeated exposure of a lactating dam to a novel male intruder, and the assessment of the behavioral, physiological, and neuroendocrine effects of this model. Chronic social stress (CSS) is a valuable model for studying the effects of stress on the behavior and physiology of the dam as well as her offspring and future generations. The exposure of pups to CSS can also be used as an early life stress that has long term effects on behavior, physiology, and neuroendocrinology.

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Exposure to chronic stress is a reliable predictor of depressive disorders, and social stress is a common ethologically relevant stressor in both animals ...

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A pragmatic mindfulness intervention to benefit personnel working in chronically high-stress environments, delivered onsite during the workday, is timely and valuable to employee and employer alike. Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) is a Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) offered as a modified, less time intensive method (compared to Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), delivered onsite, during work, and intends to enable busy working adults to experience the benefits of mindfulness. It teaches mindful awareness principles, rehearses mindfulness as a group, emphasizes the use of gentle yoga stretches, and utilizes relaxing music in the background of both the group sessions and individual mindfulness practice. MIM is delivered in a group format, for 1 hr/week/8 weeks. CDs and a DVD are provided to facilitate individual practice. The yoga movement is emphasized in the protocol to facilitate a quieting of the mind. The music is included for participants to associate the relaxed state experienced in the group session with their individual practice. To determine the intervention feasibility/efficacy we conducted a randomized wait-list control group in Intensive Care Units (ICUs). ICUs represent a high-stress work environment where personnel experience chronic exposure to catastrophic situations as they care for seriously injured/ill patients. Despite high levels of work-related stress, few interventions have been developed and delivered onsite for such environments. The intervention is delivered on site in the ICU, during work hours, with participants receiving time release to attend sessions. The intervention is well received with 97% retention rate. Work engagement and resiliency increase significantly in the intervention group, compared to the wait-list control group, while participant respiration rates decrease significantly pre-post in 6/8 of the weekly sessions. Participants value institutional support, relaxing music, and the instructor as pivotal to program success. This provides evidence that MIM is feasible, well accepted, and can be effectively implemented in a chronically high-stress work environment.

Mindfulness in Motion MIM: An Onsite Mindfulness Based Intervention MBI for Chronically High Stress Work Environments to Increase Resiliency and Work Engagement

The Mindfulness in Motion (MIM) protocol offers a pragmatic Mindfulness Based Intervention (MBI) on-site, for persons working in chronically high-stress work environments that significantly increases resiliency and work engagement. The protocol has proven feasible, beneficial, and is easily adaptable to other high-stress workplaces.

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A Protocol for Housing Mice in an Enriched Environment

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a housing environment for mice that boosts mental and physical health compared to standard laboratory housing. Our recent studies demonstrate that environmental enrichment decreases adiposity, increases energy expenditure, resists diet induced obesity, and causes cancer remission and inhibition in mice. EE typically consists of larger living space, a variety of &#8216;toys&#8217; to interact with, running wheels, and can include a number of other novel environmental changes. All of this fosters a more complex social engagement, cognitive and physical stimulations. Importantly, the toy location and type of toy is changed regularly, which encourages the mice to adapt to a frequently changing and novel environment. Many variables can be manipulated in EE to promote health effects in mice. Thus these approaches are difficult to control and must be properly managed to successfully replicate the associated phenotypes. Therefore, the goal of this video is to demonstrate how EE is properly set up and maintained to assure a complex, challenging, and controlled environment so that other researchers can easily reproduce the protective effects of EE against obesity and cancer.

Environmental enrichment for mice requires a complex and challenging setup, as well as comprehensive husbandry and handling techniques to assure robust metabolic and anti-cancer effects in the mice. This protocol provides detailed procedures to reproduce the above mentioned effects in mice.

Environmental enrichment (EE) is a housing environment for mice that boosts mental and physical health compared to standard laboratory housing. Our recent ...

Stressful life events often increase the incidence of depression in humans. To study the mechanisms of depression, the development of animal models of depression is essential. Because there are several types of depression, various animal models are needed for a deeper understanding of the disorder. Previously, a mouse model of subchronic and mild social defeat stress (sCSDS) using a modified chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) paradigm was established. In the paradigm, to reduce physical injuries from aggressors, the duration of physical contact between the aggressor and a subordinate was reduced compared to in the original CSDS paradigm. sCSDS mice showed increased body weight gain, food intake, and water intake during the stress period, and their social behaviors were suppressed after the stress period. In terms of the face validity of the stress-induced overeating and overdrinking following the increased body weight gain, the sCSDS mice may show some features related to atypical depression in humans. Thus, a mouse model of sCSDS may be useful for studying the pathogenic mechanisms underlying depression. This protocol will help establish the sCSDS mouse model, especially for studying the mechanisms underlying stress-induced weight gain and polydipsia- and hyperphagia-like symptoms.

Here, methods for developing a mouse model of subchronic and mild social defeat stress are described and used to investigate the pathogenic features of depression including hyperphagia- and polydipsia-like symptoms following increased body weight.

Stressful life events often increase the incidence of depression in humans. To study the mechanisms of depression, the development of animal models of ...

The Social Dimension of Stress: Experimental Manipulations of Social Support and Social Identity in the Trier Social Stress Test

In many situations humans are influenced by the behavior of other people and their relationships with them. For example, in stressful situations supportive behavior of other people as well as positive social relationships can act as powerful resources to cope with stress. In order to study the interplay between these variables, this protocol describes two effective experimental manipulations of social relationships and supportive behavior in the laboratory. In the present article, these two manipulations are implemented in the Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)&#8212;a standard stress induction paradigm in which participants are subjected to a simulated job interview. More precisely, we propose (a) a manipulation of the relationship between different protagonists in the TSST by making a shared social identity salient and (b) a manipulation of the behavior of the TSST-selection committee, which acts either supportively or unsupportively. These two experimental manipulations are designed in a modular fashion and can be applied independently of each other but can also be combined. Moreover, these two manipulations can also be integrated into other stress protocols and into other standardized social interactions such as trust games, negotiation tasks, or other group tasks.

Previous research on the social dimension of stress has focused on two important variables: social identity and social support. This protocol introduces an effective experimental manipulation of these two social variables and describes their implementation in a standard stress induction paradigm (Trier Social Stress Test).

In many situations humans are influenced by the behavior of other people and their relationships with them. For example, in stressful situations ...

Chronic, unresolved stress is a major risk factor for the development of clinical depression. While many preclinical models of stress-induced depression have been reported, the unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) protocol is an established translationally-relevant model for inducing behavioral symptoms commonly associated with clinical depression, such as anhedonia, altered grooming behavior, and learned helplessness in rodents. The UCMS protocol also induces physiological (e.g., hypercortisolemia, hypertension) and neurological (e.g., anhedonia, learned helplessness) changes that are clinically associated with depression. Importantly, UCMS-induced depressive symptoms can be ameliorated through chronic, but not acute, treatment with common SSRIs. As such, the UCMS protocol offers many advantages over acute stress protocols or protocols that utilize more extreme stressors. Our protocol involves randomized, daily exposures to 7 distinct stressors: damp bedding, removal of bedding, cage tilt, alteration of light/dark cycles, social stresses, shallow water bath, and predator sounds/smells. By subjecting rodents 3-4 hr daily to these mild stressors for 8 weeks, we demonstrate both significant behavioral changes and poor health outcomes to the cardiovascular system. This approach allows for in-depth interrogation of the neurological, behavioral, and physiological alterations associated with chronic stress-induced depression, as well as for testing of new potential therapeutic agents or intervention strategies.

The unpredictable chronic mild stress (UCMS) protocol is a validated method for studying behavioral and physiological changes associated with chronic stress and depressive symptoms. Eight weeks of imposition of the UCMS protocol induces behavioral changes and poor health outcomes in rodents of either gender.

Chronic, unresolved stress is a major risk factor for the development of clinical depression. While many preclinical models of stress-induced depression ...

A Protocol of Manual Tests to Measure Sensation and Pain in Humans

Numerous qualitative and quantitative techniques can be used to test sensory nerves and pain in both research and clinical settings. The current study demonstrates a quantitative sensory testing protocol using techniques to measure tactile sensation and pain threshold for pressure and heat using portable and easily accessed equipment. These techniques and equipment are ideal for new laboratories and clinics where cost is a concern or a limiting factor. We demonstrate measurement techniques for the following: cutaneous mechanical sensitivity on the arms and legs (von-Frey filaments), radiant and contact heat sensitivity (with both threshold and qualitative assessments using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS)), and mechanical pressure sensitivity (algometer, with both threshold and the VAS). The techniques and equipment described and demonstrated here can be easily purchased, stored, and transported by most clinics and research laboratories around the world. A limitation of this approach is a lack of automation or computer control. Thus, these processes can be more labor intensive in terms of personnel training and data recording than the more sophisticated equipment. We provide a set of reliability data for the demonstrated techniques. From our description, a new laboratory should be able to set up and run these tests and to develop their own internal reliability data.

The goal of this procedure is to demonstrate a battery of quantitative techniques for sensory and pain measurement in humans. The equipment and techniques described are commonly found in pain clinics or are easy to obtain.

Numerous qualitative and quantitative techniques can be used to test sensory nerves and pain in both research and clinical settings. The current study ...

A New Method for Inducing a Depression-Like Behavior in Rats

Contagious depression is a phenomenon that is yet to be fully recognized and this stems from insufficient material on the subject. At the moment, there is no existing format for studying the mechanism of action, prevention, containment, and treatment of contagious depression. The purpose of this study, therefore, was to establish the first animal model of contagious depression.
Healthy rats can contract depressive behaviors if exposed to depressed rats. Depression is induced in rats by subjecting them to several manipulations of chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) over 5 weeks, as described in the protocol. A successful sucrose preference test confirmed the development of depression in the rats. The CUS-exposed rats were then caged with na&#239;ve rats from the contagion group (1 na&#239;ve rat/2 depressed rats in a cage) for an additional 5 weeks. 30 social groups were created from the combination of CUS-exposed rats and na&#239;ve rats.
This proposed depression-contagion protocol in animals consists mainly of cohabiting CUS-exposed and healthy rats for 5 weeks. To ensure that this method works, a series of tests are carried out - first, the sucrose preference test upon inducing depression to rats, then, the sucrose preference test, alongside the open field and forced-swim tests at the end of the cohabitation period. Throughout the experiment, rats are given tags and are always returned to their cages after each test.
A few limitations to this method are the weak differences recorded between the experimental and control groups in the sucrose preference test and the irreversible traumatic outcome of the forced swim test. These may be worth considering for suitability before any future application of the protocol. Nonetheless, following the experiment, na&#239;ve rats developed contagion depression after 5 weeks of sharing the same cage with the CUS-exposed rats.

This protocol describes a new model by which healthy rats could contract depression over a given time periodthrough contagion by exposure to chronic unpredictable stressed (CUS) rats.

Contagious depression is a phenomenon that is yet to be fully recognized and this stems from insufficient material on the subject. At the moment, there is ...

Novel Object Recognition and Object Location Behavioral Testing in Mice on a Budget

Ethologically relevant behavioral testing is a critical component of any study that uses mouse models to study the cognitive effects of various physiological or pathological changes. The object location task (OLT) and the novel object recognition task (NORT) are two effective behavioral tasks commonly used to reveal the function and relative health of specific brain regions involved in memory. While both of these tests exploit the inherent preference of mice for the novelty to reveal memory for previously encountered objects, the OLT primarily evaluates spatial learning, which relies heavily on hippocampal activity. The NORT, in contrast, evaluates non-spatial learning of object identity, which relies on multiple brain regions. Both tasks require an open-field-testing arena, objects with equivalent intrinsic value to mice, appropriate environmental cues, and video recording equipment and the software. Commercially available systems, while convenient, can be costly. This manuscript details a simple, cost-effective method for building the arenas and setting up the equipment necessary to perform the OLT and NORT. Furthermore, the manuscript describes an efficient testing protocol that incorporates both OLT and NORT and provides typical methods for data acquisition and analysis, as well as representative results. Successful completion of these tests can provide valuable insight into the memory function of various mouse model systems and appraise the underlying neural regions that support these functions.

Here we provide a protocol which includes comprehensive instructions for the economical establishment of murine object location and novel object recognition behavioral testing, including the design, cost, and construction of required equipment as well as execution of behavioral testing, data collection, and analysis.

Ethologically relevant behavioral testing is a critical component of any study that uses mouse models to study the cognitive effects of various ...

Gait disturbance is frequently observed in patients with movement disorders. In mouse models used for movement disorders, gait analysis is important behavioral test to determine whether the mice mimic the symptoms of patients. Motor deficits are often induced by stress when no spontaneous motor phenotype is observed in the mouse models. Therefore, gait analysis followed by stress loading would be a sensitive method for evaluating the motor phenotype in mouse models. However, researchers face the requirement of an expensive apparatus to obtain quantitative results automatically from gait analysis. For stress, stress loading by simple methods without expensive apparatuses required for electric shock and forced running is desirable. Therefore, we introduce a simple and low-cost protocol consisting of footprint analysis with paper and ink, hanging box test to evaluate motor function, and stress loading defined by restraint with a conical tube. The motor deficits of mice were successfully detected by this protocol.

The low-cost protocol consisting of footprint analysis and hanging box test after restraint stress is useful for evaluating the movement disorders of mouse model.

Gait disturbance is frequently observed in patients with movement disorders. In mouse models used for movement disorders, gait analysis is important ...