Our Forced Swim and Tail Suspension assays are the two assays we have developed primarily to research depression.  But, creative researchers are using our Open Field, Elevated Plus Maze and Zero Maze assays to support their study of depression.

 

 

Looking at PubMed and searching the specific assays in the title or abstract and also certain behavior research areas (e.g., anxiety, depression) anywhere in the publication we found that there were 3109 articles for “Forced Swim.”  Of these, 2097 (67.45%) also had “depression” somewhere in the publication.  Further, we found 1987 articles for “Tail Suspension.”  Of these, 1130 (56.87%) also had “depression” somewhere in the publication.  That isn’t surprising considering the role the Tail Suspension assay has played in finding anti-depressant drugs among other things.  Although imperfect and far from an exhaustive or rigorous survey, this research project was still instructive and illuminated the uses of these assays.

 

What was somewhat surprising was to discover that other assays we make and sell, traditionally used to study other behavior research areas, have been used, at least to some degree, to support the study of depression:

 

Assay	Total PubMed Articles	Total Articles Referencing “Depression”	Percentage Total Articles Referencing Depression	Primary Behavior Research Area	Total Articles Referencing Primary Research Area	Percentage Total Articles Referencing Primary Research Area
Forced Swim	3109	2097	67.45%	Depression
Tail Suspension	1987	1130	56.87%	Depression
Open Field (directed to rodents)	10944	1603	14.65%	Motor	5411	49.44%
Plus Maze	6787	1089	16.05%	Anxiety	5398	79.53%
Zero Maze	253	54	21.34%	Anxiety	226	89.33%

 

So, it may be that you or your colleagues might want to consider using these other assays creatively in your depression research.  If you are interested in the list of references to these prior “creative” uses, let us know and we will send that to you.