Topic: posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The interaction of the hippocampus and amygdala, crucial for the formation of emotional memories, may play a central role in the pathophysiology of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, with amygdala hyperactivity regarded as a hallmark of PTSD, it is still not clear whether amygdala hyperresponsiveness before a traumatic event is a predisposing factor for the development of PTSD or is an acquired condition upon trauma. To address this question, in the current study, we explore the effect of heightened amygdala activity on anxiety and fear memory in the formation of hippocampal fear m

Experiencing traumatic events can lead to the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in susceptible individuals. Pinpointing risk factors and mechanisms that lower individual vulnerability to PTSD presents a significant clinical challenge with considerable promise in prevention and threapy. Here we aimed to identify pretrauma cognitive and emotional traits and their neurobiological correlates that predict posttrauma fear generalization, a core symptom of PTSD. An unbiased exploration of neurobehavioral vulnerability traits determining trauma-related fear generalization suggests pr

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severely deteriorates the quality of life of an increasing number of people. Fortunately, the majority of trauma-exposed individuals recovers successfully and shows resilience to these negative consequences of trauma. Understanding the neural underpinnings of trauma resilience versus susceptibility might be key to improve PTSD prevention and treatment. Maladaptive, intrusive trauma memories are a core symptom of PTSD. These memories are characterized by poor contextualization, suggesting impaired hippocampal recruitment in the trauma memory trace. This may

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) manifests in some trauma-exposed individuals through excessive fear generalization to safe contexts and difficulties extinguishing fear. While previous studies have implicated functional changes in fear-regulatory nodes a comprehensive understanding of network-wide alterations remains elusive. We employed a rodent model of PTSD to investigate whole-brain activity patterns associated with fear generalization. Male rats underwent uncontrollable footshocks and 28 days later we measured their generalized fear response in an altered/safe context. Based on freezi