Selectively Bred Rats Provide a Unique Model of Vulnerability to PTSD-Like Behavior and Respond Differentially to FGF2 Augmentation Early in Life.

ABSTRACT: Individuals respond differently to traumatic experiences, including their propensity to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Understanding individual differences in PTSD vulnerability will allow the development of improved prevention and treatment options. Here we characterized fear conditioning and extinction in rats selectively bred for differences in their locomotor response to a novel environment. Selectively bred high-responder (bHR) and low-responder (bLR) male rats are known to differ in their emotional reactivity on a range of measures of spontaneous anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors. We demonstrate that bHRs have facilitated extinction learning and retention compared with outbred Sprague Dawley rats, whereas bLRs show reduced extinction learning and retention. This i

SUBMITTER: Prater KE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5518903 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature