A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, is a medical incident where muscle tissue in the heart is damaged by lack of blood flow. Pain in the chest and upper body, trouble breathing, exhaustion and nausea are the most common signs, although an MI can be entirely symptomless. If a significant portion of the heart’s muscle tissue is destroyed, MI can lead to congestive heart failure (CHF), a condition where the heart is no longer able to pump enough blood to provide oxygen to all the body’s organs and tissues.

Over 600,000 people in the US suffer an MI each year,[1] and around 2% of the US population is suffering from CHF. Over half of these individuals die within 15 years of first contracting the disease.[2] The severe prevalence and mortality rate of MI and CHF, combined with increased risk factors for these diseases in the population, makes scientific research into their pathology extremely important. In place of human patients, mouse models are often used for such research. Using mice incurs fewer ethical concerns, and being mammals their brain and behavior are relatively similar to humans.

Since the brains of both humans and mice are intimately connected with all the body’s organ systems, diseases affecting bodily organs can also have neurological and behavioral implications. CHF and MI are no exception. In particular, experimental observations have associated these disorders with a range of cognitive and behavioral phenomena, including depression, anxiety, dementia and deficits in locomotion and spatial memory. In this article, we will discuss these behavioral consequences of MI and CHF.