Event Title
The Effects of Anxiety on Cognitive Performance Using the Mild Stress Model
Faculty Mentor
Dr. Grace Rossi
Major/Area of Research
Psychology
Description
Stress is one of the leading causes of mental illnesses. In the current experiment, we explored the effects of anxiety on cognitive performance by placing mice in mildly stressful situations. The anxiety paradigm involved randomly exposing a new mouse to a cage that contained an aggressive mouse. Studies have reported that chronic stress reduces adult hippocampal neurogenesis, a finding that would help explain a decrease in cognition. The current project employed 2 various tests of cognition, one using a typical maze and another using a cage with thick bedding and a hidden palatable treat. In both paradigms, latency to the goal was measured. The goal was to find the palatable treat in the least amount of time and with the least amount of errors. Ten male mice were compared to 10 female mice in each paradigm. Half of these mice were pretreated with the NMDA super agonist-antagonist known as d-cycloserine (DCS). Next mice were placed under chronic mild stress with an aggressor mouse for a short amount of time and then cognitive performance and latency to the goal was measured. Although current research does not reveal any significant effects of stress on neurogenesis, cell proliferation has been hypothesized in the temporal areas of the hippocampus, implying a possible effect on working memory. A single dose of DCS enhanced memory and speed within the maze in the stressed males but not the females. Females lost weight in the study and failed to gain any anxiolytic effect of the DCS following the exposure to chronic stress. In fact, female stressed mice took twice as long as the male mice to find the hidden treat in the bedded cage. The pharmacology of DCS and its utility as an anxiolytic is complex and warrants further evaluation in the chronic stress model.
The Effects of Anxiety on Cognitive Performance Using the Mild Stress Model
Stress is one of the leading causes of mental illnesses. In the current experiment, we explored the effects of anxiety on cognitive performance by placing mice in mildly stressful situations. The anxiety paradigm involved randomly exposing a new mouse to a cage that contained an aggressive mouse. Studies have reported that chronic stress reduces adult hippocampal neurogenesis, a finding that would help explain a decrease in cognition. The current project employed 2 various tests of cognition, one using a typical maze and another using a cage with thick bedding and a hidden palatable treat. In both paradigms, latency to the goal was measured. The goal was to find the palatable treat in the least amount of time and with the least amount of errors. Ten male mice were compared to 10 female mice in each paradigm. Half of these mice were pretreated with the NMDA super agonist-antagonist known as d-cycloserine (DCS). Next mice were placed under chronic mild stress with an aggressor mouse for a short amount of time and then cognitive performance and latency to the goal was measured. Although current research does not reveal any significant effects of stress on neurogenesis, cell proliferation has been hypothesized in the temporal areas of the hippocampus, implying a possible effect on working memory. A single dose of DCS enhanced memory and speed within the maze in the stressed males but not the females. Females lost weight in the study and failed to gain any anxiolytic effect of the DCS following the exposure to chronic stress. In fact, female stressed mice took twice as long as the male mice to find the hidden treat in the bedded cage. The pharmacology of DCS and its utility as an anxiolytic is complex and warrants further evaluation in the chronic stress model.