introduction: one of the hallmark symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd) is the impaired extinction of traumatic memory. single prolonged stress (sps) has been suggested as an animal model of ptsd, since sps rats exhibited the impaired fear extinction. oxytocin (oxt) has been recently suggested as a potential pharmacotherapy for treatment of ptsd. in this study, using sps rats we inve...

Introduction: The basolateral amygdala (BLA) and infralimbic area (IL) of the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) are two interconnected brain structures that mediate both fear memory expression and extinction. Besides the well-known role of the BLA in the acquisition and expression of fear memory, projections from IL to BLA inhibit fear expression and have a critical role in fear extinction. Howev...

Introduction: One of the hallmark symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is the impaired extinction of traumatic memory. Single prolonged stress (SPS) has been suggested as an animal model of PTSD, since SPS rats exhibited the impaired fear extinction. Oxytocin (OXT) has been recently suggested as a potential pharmacotherapy for treatment of PTSD. In this study, using SPS rats we inve...

Around 75% of civilians have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives, and this number is considerably higher in many parts of the world, as well as in military veterans and first responders. Of those exposed to trauma, 15-25% will develop Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).  PTSD extracts enormous economic, health, and quality of life cost. Thus, it is critical to underst...

Introduction: This study investigates the effects of cannabinoid agonist WIN55-212-2 on acquisition and consolidation phases of the fear memory extinction and also on anxiety and motor activity. Methods: In this study, we used SPS & S model to induce post-traumatic stress disorder. One week after SPS, to establish a conditioned fear memory, rats received an electric foot shock within shock cha...

around 75% of civilians have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lives, and this number is considerably higher in many parts of the world, as well as in military veterans and first responders. of those exposed to trauma, 15-25% will develop posttraumatic stress disorder (ptsd).  ptsd extracts enormous economic, health, and quality of life cost. thus, it is critical to understand m...

The formation of fear memory to a specific stimulus leads to subsequent fearful response to that stimulus. However, it is not apparent whether the formation of fear memory can affect other memories. We study whether specific fearful experience leading to fear memory affects different memories formation and extinction. We revealed that cued fear conditioning, but not unpaired or naïve training, ...

Decades of behavioral studies have confirmed that extinction does not erase classically conditioned fear memories. For this reason, research efforts have focused on the mechanisms underlying the development of extinction-induced inhibition within fear circuits. However, recent studies in rodents have uncovered mechanisms that stabilize and destabilize fear memories, opening the possibility that...

In humans, activation of the ventral striatum, a region associated with reward processing, is associated with the extinction of fear, a goal in the treatment of fear-related disorders. This evidence suggests that extinction of aversive memories engages reward-related circuits, but a causal relationship between activity in a reward circuit and fear extinction has not been demonstrated. Here, we ...

Although conditioned fear can be effectively extinguished by unreinforced exposure to a threat cue, fear responses tend to return when the cue is encountered some time after extinction (spontaneous recovery), in a novel environment (renewal), or following presentation of an aversive stimulus (reinstatement). As extinction represents a context-dependent form of new learning, one possible strateg...