Anxiety & Depression Mazes

Researchers study anxiety and depression in rodents through the use of specialized mazes, such as the elevated plus maze and the forced swim test. These mazes are designed to measure the animal’s behavior and responses to different stimuli and can provide insight into the animal’s emotional state.

For example, the elevated plus maze is a four-armed maze with two open and two closed arms. Rodents tend to avoid open spaces, so an animal that is experiencing anxiety is more likely to spend more time in the closed arms of the maze. Similarly, the forced swim test involves placing an animal in a tank of water and measuring how long it takes for the animal to stop struggling and float, which is thought to be a measure of depression-like behavior.