Introduction

Stress and anxiety are unfortunate but wholly familiar aspects of every human life. It is likely that these negative emotional experiences were selected for in evolution, on account of how they goad us to perform important actions and solve urgent problems in a timely manner.

While serving this useful function, anxiety and stress often prove pathological: anxiety disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder are the most common category of mental illness, with over 270 million cases of such disorders reported worldwide in 2010, affecting more than 1 in every 15 people in some countries.[1]

Since these pathologies have such a high prevalence and lead to marked reductions in productivity and quality of life for their sufferers, it is imperative to investigate their causes and manifestations, as well as develop effective treatments for them. Mouse models, through a number of experimental paradigms, have featured centrally in this endeavor.

In this article, we will first give a brief overview of the meaning of stress and anxiety, and the neurobiological basis of these phenomena, before exploring the most common tests used to assess stress and anxiety in mouse models.