Strain specific fear behaviour and glucocorticoid response to aversive events: modelling PTSD in mice.
"Pavlovian" fear conditioning in rodents allows studying the formation and extinction of fear memories. Male C57BL/6J but not BALB/c mice showed differential fear memory performance expressed as freezing and scanning behaviour for context and cue. Glucocorticoid stress hormones modulate the processing of fear-related stimuli. The augmented corticosterone response of BALB/c mice to conditioning and testing, therefore, might have contributed to the strain-dependent formation of fear memories. We propose that modulation of extinction processes by glucocorticoids can be relevant in modelling anxiety disorders.
Division of Medical Pharmacology, LACDR/LUMC, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands. v.brinks@lacdr.leidenuniv.nl
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D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003214:Conditioning, Classical; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000378:metabolism*; D007206:Individuality; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013045:Species Specificity
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D003345:Corticosterone