Delayed unpaired extinction as a treatment for hyperarousal of the rabbit nictitating membrane response and its implications for treating PTSD.

ABSTRACT: Treatment for PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder) is rarely available immediately after trauma and often delayed for weeks or months after an event. In a rabbit eyeblink conditioning model of PTSD, we have previously shown that presentations of a tone conditioned stimulus (CS) and shock unconditioned stimulus (US) in an explicitly unpaired manner known as unpaired extinction is effective in reducing CS responding and US hyperarousal even if shock intensity is reduced eight-fold and elicits only minimal responding. Here we determined if delayed delivery of unpaired extinction would still be effective in extinguishing hyperarousal. Rabbits were tested for sensitivity to shock before CS-US pairings and after six days of unpaired extinction presented a day, a week or a month after CS-US pair

SUBMITTER: Schreurs BG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5849523 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature