Sex-dependent effects of endocannabinoid modulation of conditioned fear extinction in rats.

ABSTRACT:

Background and purpose

Women are twice as likely as men to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) making the search for biological mechanisms underlying these gender disparities especially crucial. One of the hallmark symptoms of PTSD is an alteration in the ability to extinguish fear responses to trauma-associated cues. In male rodents, the endocannabinoid system can modulate fear extinction and has been suggested as a therapeutic target for PTSD. However, whether and how the endocannabinoid system may modulate fear expression and extinction in females remains unknown.

Experimental approach

To answer this question, we pharmacologically manipulated endocannabinoid signalling in male and female rats prior to extinction of auditory conditioned fear and measured both pas

SUBMITTER: Morena M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8311789 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature