Pharmacological modulation of conditioned fear in the fear-potentiated startle test: a systematic review and meta-analysis of animal studies.

ABSTRACT:

Rationale and objectives

Fear conditioning is an important aspect in the pathophysiology of anxiety disorders. The fear-potentiated startle test is based on classical fear conditioning and over the years, a broad range of drugs have been tested in this test. Synthesis of the available data may further our understanding of the neurotransmitter systems that are involved in the expression of conditioned fear.

Methods

Following a comprehensive search in Medline and Embase, we included 68 research articles that reported on 103 drugs, covering 56 different drug classes. The systematic review was limited to studies using acute, systemic drug administration in naive animals.

Results

Qualitative data synthesis showed that most clinically active anxiolytics, but not serotonin-r

SUBMITTER: Groenink L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10593622 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature