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a Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Anxiety and Stress Research Unit, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84170, Israel b Department of Psychology, University of Haifa, 31905 Haifa, Israel c The Chaim Sheba Medical Center, Sackler Medical School, Tel-Aviv University, Tel Hashomer 69978, Israel
Key Words: animal model • posttraumatic stress disorder • early-life stress • memory consolidation • anisomycin • hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis • selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
Address for correspondence: Hagit Cohen, Ph.D., Anxiety and Stress Research Unit, Ministry of Health Mental Health Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva 84170, Israel. Voice: 972-8-6401743; fax: 972-8-6401742. e-mail: hagitc{at}bgu.ac.il
Clinical studies of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have elicited proposed risk factors for developing PTSD in the aftermath of stress exposure. Generally, these risk factors have arisen from retrospective analysis of premorbid characteristics of study populations. A valid animal model of PTSD can complement clinical studies and help to elucidate issues, such as the contribution of proposed risk factors, in ways which are not practicable in the clinical arena. Important qualities of animal models include the possibility to conduct controlled prospective studies, easy access to postmortem brains, and the availability of genetically manipulated subjects, which can be tailored to specific needs. When these qualities are further complemented by an approach which defines phenomenologic criteria to address the variance in individual response pattern and magnitude, enabling the animal subjects to be classified into definable groups for focused study, the model acquires added validity. This article presents an overview of a series of studies in such an animal model which examine the contribution of two proposed risk factors and the value of two early postexposure pharmacological manipulations on the prevalence rates of subjects displaying an extreme magnitude of behavioral response to a predator stress paradigm.
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