Sucrose preference test for measurement of stress-induced anhedonia in mice
Abstract
Anhedonia is the inability to experience pleasure from rewarding or enjoyable activities and is a core symptom of depression in humans. Here, we describe a protocol for the measurement of anhedonia in mice, in which anhedonia is measured by a sucrose preference test (SPT) based on a two-bottle choice paradigm. A reduction in the sucrose preference ratio in experimental relative to control mice is indicative of anhedonia. To date, inconsistent and variable results have been reported following the use of the SPT by different groups, probably due to the use of different protocols and equipment. In this protocol, we describe how to set up a clearly defined apparatus for SPT and provide a detailed protocol to ensure greater consistency when carrying out SPT. This optimized protocol is highly sensitive, reliable, and adaptable for evaluation of chronic stress-related anhedonia, as well as morphine-induced dependence. The whole SPT, including adaptation, baseline measurement, and testing, takes 8 d.
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Anhedonia can be analyzed in mice using the sucrose preference test (SPT).
“which can be analyzed in mice using a sucrose preference test (SPT) (Briones et al., 2012; Liu et al., 2018).”
From LC3-Associated Endocytosis Facilitates β-Amyloid Clearance and Mitigates Neurodegeneration in Murine Alzheimer’s Disease (2019) · cites this paper as Liu et al., 2018
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- Authors
- Liu, M.-Y., Yin, C.-Y., Zhu, L.-J., Zhu, X.-H., Xu, C., Luo, C.-X., Chen, H., Zhu, D.-Y., & Zhou, Q.-G.
- Affiliations
- Nanjing Drum Tower Hospital (CN)
- Southeast University (CN)
- Nanjing Medical University (CN)
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Hongshan
- Zhu, Dong-Ya
- Zhou, Qi-Gang
- Venue
- Nature Protocols
- Published
- 2018-07
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 7
- Pages
- 1686-1698
- ISSN
- 1750-2799 (ISSN-L)
- 1754-2189
- OpenAlex
- W2865698779
- Cited by
- 1,026
- References
- 43
- Citations by year
- 2026: 135 · 2025: 181 · 2024: 177 · 2023: 168 · 2022: 153 · 2021: 125 · 2020: 53 · 2019: 29 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 23.89
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Nature Protocols (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience › Neurotransmitter Receptor Influence on Behavior
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pharmacology › Treatment of Major Depression
- Keywords
- anhedonia, sucrose preference test, chronic stress, depression, two-bottle choice, morphine dependence, reward, mice
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Diagnostic Tests, Routine, Disease Models, Animal, Food Preferences, Stress, Psychological, Sucrose, Sweetening Agents, Mice, Anhedonia
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