Emotional and Anxiety Assessments in CNS Disorders - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 243

Chapter 16
Emotional and Anxiety Assessments in CNS Disorders
Zaorui Zhao and Junfang Wu
Abstract
In order to model human neuropathological anxiety in rodents, a wide variety of behavioral testing paradigms
in animal were developed. These animal experiments are used to screen novel compounds with anxiolytic
or anxiogenic activity. In Section 1, we describe and discuss commonly used anxiety behavioral protocols
in detail. The elevated plus maze is based on the confl ict of exploration and rodent's natural fear to the
open and elevated places. The light/dark box is based on the confl ict of exploration and rodent's natural
fear to the light place. The social interaction test is based on the sensitivity of rodent's social behavior to
novel environments and/or bright light. Open fi eld test is based on the confl ict of exploration and rodent's
nature to fear about the open place.
Fear conditioning is a Pavlovian learning-based behavioral paradigm in which rodents learn to associate
stimuli (e.g., sound) to aversive events (e.g., electric shock). Contextual fear conditioning and cued fear
conditioning are two important and similar conditioning procedures. The subject (mostly rodents) learns
to associate the context or cue stimulus with the electric shock. In the next day, the subjects have the
memory of the electric shock and develop freezing behavior (in response to the aversive condition) even
though there is no electric shock to be given. In Section 2, we describe and discuss the cured and contex-
tual fear conditioning in detail.
Key words: Anxiety, Behavioral, Elevated plus maze, Light/dark box, Social interaction, Fear condi-
tioning, Cured, Contextual, Memory, Freezing
1. Anxiety-Related
Behaviors
Anxiety is divided into two categories, generalized anxiety disorder
(GAD) and panic disorder. GAD is characterized by excessive,
uncontrollable, and often irrational worry about everyday thing
that is disproportionate to the actual source of worry. The clinical
symptoms include fatigue, headaches, diffi culty concentrating,
irritability, sweating etc. Approximately 6.8 million American
adults suffer from GAD. In contrast, panic disorder is characterized