Background General anesthesia is now being viewed as a potentially significant risk to cognitive performance, many behavioral approaches can be used for the basical study of cognition. Objective Discuss how to reasonably select the behavior methods that use for assessing cognitive function. Content In this review, bout these two aspects, detection of different types of learning and memory and learning and memory-related brain region, several behavioral approaches, including fear conditioning, morris water maze, radial arm maze and Y maze are used to illustrate the problem of how to select the rational behavioral approach that associated with anesthesia. TrendThe correct and reasonable application of animal behavioral approaches that can provide a theoretical basis for further exploring the mechanism of anesthesia-related cognition impairment and how to develop clinical strategies for avoiding or limiting potential cognition injury.