Objective: To test the influence of a chronic ultra mild stress (CUMS) procedure, based solely on socio-environmental stressors, on cognitive-behavioural function in mice.
Design: Behavioural study.
Participants: B6D2F1 mice.
Interventions: Mice were exposed to various stressors and then tested using a decision-making task.
Results: We observed that stress facilitated "choice" behaviour, with an absence of "no choice" behaviour. Stress also facilitated a more rapid capacity to process information, a decrease in the level of evaluation of the choice situation and less hesitation. These stress-related consequences on decision making may be attributed to a higher level of distractability in the stressed mice.
Conclusions: The CUMS model may be useful for the study of stress-related disorders by proposing a new method for assessing gene-environment interactions in cognitive-affective behaviours.