Elevated plus maze

The elevated plus maze (EPM) is an animal model of anxiety that usually uses rodents as a screening test for putative anxiolytic or anxiogenic compounds and as a general research tool in neurobiological anxiety research. The model is based on the test animal's aversion to open spaces and tendency to be thigmotaxic (a preference to remain near to, or touching, vertical surfaces). In the EPM, this is expressed as the animal spending more time in the enclosed arms.