Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity
The often co-morbid conditions of depression and anxiety are the most common mental illnesses and are more prevalent among females than males. Chronic stress paradigms in rodents serve as valuable preclinical models for investigating the factors contributing to these disorders and their neural under...
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2025-05-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1591973/full |
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| author | Rachel Bowman Maya Frankfurt Maya Frankfurt Victoria Luine Victoria Luine |
| author_facet | Rachel Bowman Maya Frankfurt Maya Frankfurt Victoria Luine Victoria Luine |
| author_sort | Rachel Bowman |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The often co-morbid conditions of depression and anxiety are the most common mental illnesses and are more prevalent among females than males. Chronic stress paradigms in rodents serve as valuable preclinical models for investigating the factors contributing to these disorders and their neural underpinnings. A variety of chronic stressors are associated with the development of sexually differentiated effects on anxiety- and depressive-like responses in rodents. This review summarizes and discusses common behavioral tasks used to assess anxiety-like (e.g., elevated plus maze, open field) and depressive-like (e.g., sucrose preference, forced swim) behaviors in rodents and discusses evidence of sex differences in these responses. Preclinical chronic stress models also aid in identifying potential mechanisms underlying behavioral changes, including dendritic synaptic alterations in neural circuits affected by stress. Robust sex differences have been observed in stress-responsive brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Therefore, applying chronic stress paradigms and assessing their neural effects in rodents may provide crucial insights into the biological basis of sexually differentiated mental illnesses in humans. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-c53ec2cd01c64e67970cdc4262e5d248 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1662-5153 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj-art-c53ec2cd01c64e67970cdc4262e5d2482025-08-20T01:49:12ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience1662-51532025-05-011910.3389/fnbeh.2025.15919731591973Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticityRachel Bowman0Maya Frankfurt1Maya Frankfurt2Victoria Luine3Victoria Luine4Department of Psychology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Sacred Heart University, Fairfield, CT, United StatesHofstra Northwell School of Nursing and Physician Assistant Studies, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, United StatesDepartment of Psychology, Hunter College, New York, NY, United StatesGraduate Center of City University of New York, New York, NY, United StatesThe often co-morbid conditions of depression and anxiety are the most common mental illnesses and are more prevalent among females than males. Chronic stress paradigms in rodents serve as valuable preclinical models for investigating the factors contributing to these disorders and their neural underpinnings. A variety of chronic stressors are associated with the development of sexually differentiated effects on anxiety- and depressive-like responses in rodents. This review summarizes and discusses common behavioral tasks used to assess anxiety-like (e.g., elevated plus maze, open field) and depressive-like (e.g., sucrose preference, forced swim) behaviors in rodents and discusses evidence of sex differences in these responses. Preclinical chronic stress models also aid in identifying potential mechanisms underlying behavioral changes, including dendritic synaptic alterations in neural circuits affected by stress. Robust sex differences have been observed in stress-responsive brain regions such as the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Therefore, applying chronic stress paradigms and assessing their neural effects in rodents may provide crucial insights into the biological basis of sexually differentiated mental illnesses in humans.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1591973/fullchronic stresssex differencesanxietydepressionspinesrodents |
| spellingShingle | Rachel Bowman Maya Frankfurt Maya Frankfurt Victoria Luine Victoria Luine Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience chronic stress sex differences anxiety depression spines rodents |
| title | Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| title_full | Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| title_fullStr | Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| title_short | Sex differences in anxiety and depression: insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| title_sort | sex differences in anxiety and depression insights from adult rodent models of chronic stress and neural plasticity |
| topic | chronic stress sex differences anxiety depression spines rodents |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnbeh.2025.1591973/full |
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