Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34926732›Full record

ReviewNeurobiology of stress2021

The social instability stress paradigm in rat and mouse: A systematic review of protocols, limitations, and recommendations.

Amber Koert, Annemie Ploeger, Claudi L H Bockting, Mathias V Schmidt, Paul J Lucassen, Anouk Schrantee, Joram D Mul

Open access · goldAbstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Neurobiology of stress, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 13% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

14 citing papers in PubMed, 35 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Social Housing of Postoperative Animals to Support Animal Welfare.Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science : JAALAS · 2026
    Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Review
  14. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Amber KoertBrain Plasticity Group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Annemie PloegerDepartment of Psychology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Claudi L H BocktingCentre for Urban Mental Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Mathias V SchmidtMax Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Research Group Neurobiology of Stress Resilience, Munich, Germany.
Paul J LucassenBrain Plasticity Group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Anouk SchranteeCentre for Urban Mental Health, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Joram D MulBrain Plasticity Group, Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
University of Amsterdam · NLAmsterdam University Medical Centers · NLMax Planck Institute of Psychiatry · DE

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSocial stress is an important environmental risk factor for the development of psychiatric disorders, including depression and anxiety disorders. Social stress paradigms are commonly used in rats and mice to gain insight into the pathogenesis of these disorders. The social instability stress (SIS) paradigm entails frequent (up to several times a week) introduction of one or multiple unfamiliar same-sex home-cage partners. The subsequent recurring formation of a new social hierarchy results in chronic and unpredictable physical and social stress. PURPOSE: We compare and discuss the stress-related behavioral and physiological impact of SIS protocols in rat and mouse, and address limitations due to protocol variability. We further provide practical recommendations to optimize reproducibility of SIS protocols.

methodsWe conducted a systematic review in accordance with the PRISMA statement in the following three databases: PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus. Our search strategy was not restricted to year of publication but was limited to articles in English that were published in peer-reviewed journals. Search terms included "social* instab*" AND ("animal" OR "rodent" OR "rat*" OR "mice" OR "mouse").

resultsThirty-three studies met our inclusion criteria. Fifteen articles used a SIS protocol in which the composition of two cage mates is altered daily for sixteen days (SIS

conclusionBoth shorter and longer SIS protocols induce a wide range of stress-related behavioral and physiological impairments that are relevant for the pathophysiology of depression and anxiety disorders. To date, SIS

Indexed as

AnxietyDepressionRodentsSISSocial dominanceSocial hierarchy

Identifiers

PMID34926732
PMCPMC8648958
OpenAlexW3206654703

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.