Emergence in extinction of enhanced and persistent responding to ambiguous aversive cues is associated with high MAOA activity in the prelimbic cortex.

ABSTRACT: There is a great deal of individual variability in the emotional outcomes of potentially traumatic events, and the underlying mechanisms are only beginning to be understood. In order to further our understanding of individual trajectories to trauma, its vulnerability and resilience, we adapted a model of fear expression to ambiguous vs perfect cues in adult male rats, and examined long-term fear extinction, 2, 3, and 50 days from acquisition. After the final conditioned fear test, mitochondrial enzyme monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) function was examined. In order to identify associations between this function and behavioral expression, an a posteri median segregation approach was adopted, and animals were classified as high or low responding according to level of freezing to the ambiguo

SUBMITTER: Poirier GL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5145910 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature