There are a few animal tests used to investigate depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors, such as the forced swim test (FST) and the tail suspension test (TST), to measure manifestations of helplessness, despair and stress engendered by the two tests. The elevated plus maze test (EPM), evaluates the anxiety-like state of the animal subject. The light/dark box is another test that measures the anxiogenic/anxiolytic state of the subject. Another aspect tested is the hedonia/anhedonia level after treatments, which can be assessed using the sucrose preference test (SPT). All these tests can monitor the status at basal level, after administering a drug or after an experimental maneuver, such as after chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUS).
