Automatically scored wheel rotations directly correspond to active escape attempts.

Although the Porsolt Forced Swim Test remains one of the most widely used behavioral test for screening antidepressants, the modification suggested by S. Nomura et alia in their paper of 1982 introduces an objective measurement, the number of rotations, as it involves a small water wheel set in a water tank, overcoming the bias intrinsic to Porsolt’s method. In fact, automatically scored wheel rotations directly correspond to active escape attempts.

“… this water wheel test is more appropriate as screening test for antidepressants than Porsolt’s test with regard to both objectivity and specificity.” (Nomura et al.)

In the habituation phase, the rodent is left for 5 minutes to explore the tank, and will identify the wheel as a possible escape way. The wheel rotates freely. During the test proper: mice turn the wheel vigorously and when they give up attempts to escape from the water, the wheel stops revolving and the number of rotations are recorded.

The FST 40803 includes rotation encoder & temperature sensor. The device connects to the PC via a USB cable provided as standard. up to 40 units can be connected to the same PC via a USB hub. A Forced Swim specific mode of ANY-maze (60000-FST), also included in the full license, collects the information from the electronics, automatically scores number of rotations and performs statistical analysis.