Abstract
Peritraumatic dissociation, a state characterized by alteration in perception and reduced awareness of surroundings, is considered to be a risk factor for the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, the predictive ability of peritraumatic dissociation is questioned for the inconsistent results in different time points of assessment. The startle reflex is an objective behavioral measurement of defensive response to abrupt and intense sensory stimulus of surroundings, with potential to be used as an assessment on the dissociative status in both humans and rodents. The present study examined the predictive effect of acoustic startle response (ASR) in different time points around the traumatic event in an animal model of PTSD. The PTSD-like symptoms, including hyperarousal, avoidance, and contextual fear, were assessed 2–3 weeks post-trauma. The results showed that (1) the startle amplitude attenuated immediate after intense footshock in almost half of the stress animals, and (2) the attenuated startle responses at 1 h but not 24 h after stress predicted the development of severe PTSD-like symptoms. These data indicate that the startle alteration at the immediate period after trauma, including 1 h, is more important in PTSD prediction than 24 h after trauma. Our study also suggests that the startle attenuation immediate after intense stress may serve as an objective measurement of peritraumatic dissociation in rats.
Highlights
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), triggered after exposure to a severe traumatic event, is a debilitating psychiatric disorder commonly characterized by the long-lasting hyperarousal, avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, and involuntary reexperiencing of the trauma (American Psychiatry Association, 2000)
The animals were divided into acoustic startle response (ASR) declined group (D) and not-declined group (ND) with the criterion that decline ratio was more than 10%
The result showed that (1) the startle response attenuated after intense footshocks, and (2) and the startle attenuation at 1 h but not 24 h after stress predicted the development of POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER (PTSD)-like behaviors
Summary
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), triggered after exposure to a severe traumatic event, is a debilitating psychiatric disorder commonly characterized by the long-lasting hyperarousal, avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, and involuntary reexperiencing of the trauma (American Psychiatry Association, 2000). Exposure to a traumatic event is necessary for the diagnosis of PTSD, but the post-traumatic symptoms become chronic only in a subgroup individuals exposed to trauma, at the rate around 25% (McFarlane, 2000; Ozer et al, 2003). It would be of great importance and challenge to identify the individuals who will subsequently develop full-blown PTSD after the traumatic event exposure. Some meta-analysis results found that peritraumatic dissociation had the largest effect size among pre- and posttrauma vulnerability factors of PTSD (Ozer et al, 2003; Breh and Seidler, 2007; Yufik and Simms, 2010), suggesting that it is one of the best predictors of PTSD
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