A mouse model of stress-enhanced fear learning demonstrates extinction-sensitive and extinction-resistant effects of footshock stress.

ABSTRACT: Stressful experiences can cause long-lasting sensitization of fear and anxiety that extends beyond the circumstances of the initial trauma. The neural mechanisms of these stress effects have been studied extensively in rats using the stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) paradigm, in which exposure to footshock stress potentiates subsequent fear conditioning. Here we establish a mouse version of the SEFL paradigm. Male and female 129s6 mice received four 1-mA footshocks or equivalent context exposure without shock. Shock exposure induced Pavlovian fear conditioning to the shock context and produced three more general effects: (1) suppression of open field exploration, (2) potentiated unconditioned fear of a novel tone stimulus, and (3) enhanced fear conditioning in a novel context. To deter

SUBMITTER: Hassien AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7006373 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature