Social Fear Affects Limbic System Neuronal Activity and Gene Expression.

ABSTRACT: Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a highly prevalent and comorbid anxiety disorder with rather unclear underlying mechanisms. Here, we aimed to characterize neurobiological changes occurring in mice expressing symptoms of social fear and to identify possible therapeutic targets for SAD. Social fear was induced via social fear conditioning (SFC), a validated animal model of SAD. We assessed the expression levels of the immediate early genes (IEGs) cFos, Fosl2 and Arc as markers of neuronal activity and the expression levels of several genes of the GABAergic, serotoninergic, oxytocinergic, vasopressinergic and neuropeptide Y (NPY)-ergic systems in brain regions involved in social behavior or fear-related behavior in SFC+ and SFC- mice 2 h after exposure to a conspecific. SFC+ mice showed a de

SUBMITTER: Hamann CS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9367789 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature