Enhanced fear expression in a psychphathological mouse model of trait anxiety: pharmacological interventions

Markus Hauschild,Nicolas Singewald,Rainer Landgraf,Mirjam Bunck,Simone B Sartori,Stefano Gaburro

doi:10.1186/1471-2210-10-s1-a5

Markus Hauschild, Nicolas Singewald + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2210-10-s1-a5

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Abstract

BackgroundThe propensity to develop an anxiety disorder isthought to be determined by genetic and environmentalfactors. Here we investigated the relationship betweenan extreme genetic predisposition to trait anxiety andexperience-based learned fear in a psychopathologicalmouse model.MethodsMale CD-1 mice selectively bred for either high (HAB)or normal (NAB) anxiety-related behaviour on the ele-vated plus maze were subjected to classical fearconditioning.ResultsBoth mouse lines learned to fear an initially neutralstimulus (CS) being indicated by increasing freezinglevels. 24 h later, HAB mice displayed more pro-nounced freezing responses to both the context andcue CS compared with NAB mice, suggesting that traitanxiety determines stronger fear memory and/or aweaker ability to inhibit fear responses in the HABline. Interestingly, already 1 h and 6 h after fear condi-tioning, freezing levels were high in HAB mice but notin NAB mice. The enhanced fear response of HABmice was attenuated by treatment with either thea

Highlights

The propensity to develop an anxiety disorder is thought to be determined by genetic and environmental factors
Both mouse lines learned to fear an initially neutral stimulus (CS) being indicated by increasing freezing levels. 24 h later, HAB mice displayed more pronounced freezing responses to both the context and cue CS compared with NAB mice, suggesting that trait anxiety determines stronger fear memory and/or a weaker ability to inhibit fear responses in the HAB line
Already 1 h and 6 h after fear conditioning, freezing levels were high in HAB mice but not in NAB mice

Summary

Introduction

The propensity to develop an anxiety disorder is thought to be determined by genetic and environmental factors. Enhanced fear expression in a psychphathological mouse model of trait anxiety: pharmacological interventions Markus Hauschild1, Simone B Sartori1, Mirjam Bunck2,3, Stefano Gaburro1, Rainer Landgraf2, Nicolas Singewald1* From 16th Scientific Symposium of the Austrian Pharmacological Society (APHAR) Vienna, Austria.

Results

Conclusion