Objective To observe the effect of a traditional Chinese medicine, BuyangHuanwu Decoction, on the ethology in rat models of post-stroke depression ( PSD) .Methods Sixty male SD rats, after open-field ethology scoring, were randomly divided into five groups ( 12 rats in each group):sham operation group, cerebral ischemic stroke group, post-stroke depression ( PSD) group, BuyangHuanwu Decoction group, and fluoxetine group.The rat PSD models were established with separately breeding and chronic unpredictable moderate stress ( CUMS ) after middle cerebral artery occlusion. Behavior changes of the rats were detected by body weight measurement, neurological scoring, sugar consumption test and open-field test.Results Compared with the sham operation group and cerebral ischemic stroke group, the body weight,sugar consumption and open-field spontaneous activity in the PSD model group were decreased, and the neurological function deficits became more severe ( P <0.01 or P <0.05 ) .Compared with the PSD group, Both BuyangHuanwu Decoction group and fluoxetine group got significantly higher scores of body weight,sugar consumption and spontaneous activity,and improved neurological function deficits(P<0.01 or P<0.05).Conclusions PSD rats exhibit abnormal behavior.BuyangHuanwu Decoction can significantly improve the behavioral impairment of PSD rats. The antidepressant effect of BuyangHuanwu Decoction is comparable to that of fluoxetine in the treatment of PSD rats.