The role of estrogen receptor manipulation during traumatic stress on changes in emotional memory induced by traumatic stress
Date
2023-03-06
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Psychopharmacology
Abstract
Rationale:
Traumatic stress leads to persistent fear, which is a core feature of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Women are more likely than men to develop PTSD after trauma exposure, which suggests women are differentially sensitive to traumatic stress. However, it is unclear how this differential sensitivity manifests. Cyclical changes in vascular estrogen release could be a contributing factor where levels of vascular estrogens (and activation of estrogen receptors) at the time of traumatic stress alter the impact of traumatic stress.
Methods:
To examine this, we manipulated estrogen receptors at the time of stress and observed the effect this had on fear and extinction memory (within the single prolonged stress (SPS) paradigm) in female rats. In all experiments, freezing and darting were used to measure fear and extinction memory.
Results:
In Experiment 1, SPS enhanced freezing during extinction testing, and this effect was blocked by nuclear estrogen receptor antagonism prior to SPS. In Experiment 2, SPS decreased conditioned freezing during the acquisition and testing of extinction. Administration of 17β-estradiol altered freezing in control and SPS animals during the acquisition of extinction, but this treatment had no effect on freezing during the testing of extinction memory. In all experiments, darting was only observed to footshock onset during fear conditioning.
Conclusion:
The results suggest multiple behaviors (or different behavioral paradigms) are needed to characterize the nature of traumatic stress effects on emotional memory in female rats and that nuclear estrogen receptor antagonism prior to SPS blocks SPS effects on emotional memory in female rats.
Description
This version of the article has been accepted for publication in Psychopharmacology, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-023-06342-6. This article will be embargoed until 03/06/2024.
Keywords
darting, sex differences, PTSD, estrogen, fear memory, extinction memory
Citation
Biddle, M., Knox, D. The role of estrogen receptor manipulation during traumatic stress on changes in emotional memory induced by traumatic stress. Psychopharmacology 240, 1049–1061 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-023-06342-6