Subchronic administration of aripiprazole improves fear extinction retrieval of Pavlovian conditioning paradigm in rats experiencing psychological trauma

Abstract

People may suffer from an intruded fear memory when the attributable traumatic events no longer exist. This is of highly clinical relevance to trauma-induced mental disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Mechanism underlying PTSD largely lies in the abnormal process of fear extinction and a functional imbalance within amygdala associated fear circuit areas. Previous evidence suggested central dopamine plays a key role in the regulation of the fear memory process, yet it remains unclear whether the intervention of dopamine modulators would be beneficial for the fear extinction abnormalities. The present study examined the performance of Pavlovian conditioned fear and the changes of dopamine profiles following a subchronic 14-day regimen of aripiprazole (a partial agonist of dopamine D2 receptors to normalize the condition caused by dopamine imbalance) in rats previously experienced a psychologically traumatic procedure of single prolonged stress (SPS). The results demonstrated that aripiprazole at 5.0 mg/kg reversed the SPS-impaired fear memory dysfunction and the SPS-reduced dopamine efflux in the amygdala. The present study suggests a therapeutic potential of subchronic treatment with aripiprazole in managing patients suffered from fear extinction problem.