A GENETIC MOUSE MODEL OF HELPLESSNESS SENSITIVE TO IMIPRAMINE

Lines of mice were selectively bred to diverge in their spontaneous he lplessness in the tail suspension test. By the second generation of se lection, only mice of the helpless line were sensitive to the antidepr essant imipramine. Genetic factors substantially contribute to the sus ceptibility to helplessness in this mouse model. These selectively bre d lines may represent potentially useful animal models to investigate behavioural, neurochemical and neuroendocrine correlates of antidepres sant action.