Chronic mild stress and deficits in the rodent brain: A preliminary examination of neuroinflammation-induced cognitive and behavioral changes in rats

This pilot study investigated the effects of chronic mild stress on a variety of cognitive and behavioral tasks in Sprague-Dawley rats. Our study consisted of two cohorts, one housed individually and one housed in dyad pairs, stressed over six weeks. We then examined the rat’s weight, sucrose preference, forced swim behaviors, and performance on maze-based cognitive tasks. Tests were conducted to examine whether chronic stress was sufficient to induce inflammation in the brain that would result in significant deficits. Results will be compared with analysis of the brains post-mortem to examine potential neurobiological correlates in regions of the rodent brain