Medial Prefrontal Cortex controlling the immobility of rats in the forced swimming test: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) belong to the neural circuitry responsible for the behavioral responses to antidepressants in humans or animals. In the forced swimming (FST), a predictive test for antidepressants in laboratory rodents, inhibition, or stimulation of mPFC may produce antidepressant-like, unlike or no behavioral effect at all. Controversial findings may result from the variety of subregions of mPFC controlling behaviour of rats in the FST. The aim in the present study was to estimate the contribution of subregions of the mPFC to the control of rat behavior in the FST. For an unbiased view and well-powered analysis of the mentioned effects, a systematic review at Medline (Pubmed) followed by a meta-analysis was performed. Compared to other subdivisions, inhibition of prelimbic or infralimbic mPFC caused a significant drop of immobility time in the FST, which is an antidepressant-like effect. Summarizing, prelimbic or infralimbic cortices seem more relevant than other subregions to the control of immobility in the FST underlying the effects of antidepressants on mood and behaviour.