Can Pharmacological Manipulation Before Trauma Reduce Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Both endogenous vulnerabilities and circumstances shape the extent and impact of trauma-associated emotional learning. Through classical and operant conditioning involving amygdala fear mechanisms and associated hippocampal encoding of fear-related memories, escalating levels of trauma provoke stress responses and associated symptoms of anxiety, phobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Previous research has suggested that pre-trauma influences can alter fear-related memories. These investigators using rat models of PTSD explored how pharmacological manipulations prior to trauma might alter subsequent formation of fear memories and behavioral responses.

Rats were exposed four times to a “safe” water maze and then were randomized to …