Full Text

Neuropsychopharmacology (2004) 29, 11051111

Forced-Swim Test[notdef]

[notdef]

[notdef]Faustino Lopez-Rodriguez*,1,2, Joseph Kim1 and Russell E Poland2,31Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2Brain Research Institute, UCLA Schoolof Medicine, Los Angeles, CA, USA;3Department of Psychiatry, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USASleep deprivation can exert antidepressant effects in humans in less than 24 h, making it the fastest acting antidepressant treatment.However, it is rarely used clinically because the effect disappears once the subject goes back to sleep. An understanding of theneurobiological mechanisms underlying the antidepressant effect of sleep deprivation should help to develop new rapidly actingantidepressant strategies. In the present report, an animal model of depression (the forced-swim test) was used to determine whetherthe effects of total sleep deprivation parallel those obtained with antidepressant drugs. Using the disk-over-water method, rats deprivedof sleep for 24 h exhibited increased swimming behavior when compared to cage control rats, mimicking the effects of serotonergicantidepressants. After 48 h, sleep-deprived rats exhibited increased swimming when compared to both cage control and stimulus controlrats, demonstrating that the effect is due to sleep deprivation per se, and not to extraneous factors inherent in the sleep deprivationprotocol (such as stress and movement). We believe that this paradigm can be used to study the neurobiological mechanisms of rapidantidepressant effects induced by sleep deprivation.Neuropsychopharmacology (2004) 29, 11051111, advance online publication, 18 February 2004; doi:10.1038/sj.npp.1300406Keywords: sleep deprivation; depression; animal models; corticosteroneINTRODUCTIONAntidepressant drugs need to be administered for several

weeks before a therapeutic response is achieved (Artigas et al,

1996). However, total sleep deprivation produces antidepressant effects after only one night of deprivation (Gerner

et al, 1979). Consequently, total sleep deprivation must

induce neurobiological changes that result in rapid improvement of symptoms of depression. An understanding of these

changes will help to develop alternative pharmacological

strategies that are faster than the ones currently available.In addition to antidepressant properties, sleep deprivation induces other behavioral effects, such as sedation and...

Show less

Total Sleep Deprivation Decreases Immobility In The Forced-Swim Test

Full Text

Suggested sources

Total Sleep Deprivation Decreases Immobility In The Forced-Swim Test

Content area

Full Text

Suggested sources