Toward an animal model of posttraumatic stress disorder

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) belongs to the most frequent anxiety disorders. Despite a broad body of evidence concerning neurobiological correlates of this illness, the pathomechanisms of PTSD are still poorly understood. This illustrates the need to establish animal models of this disorder. Recently, PTSD model has become a somewhat fashionable term used in animal studies for almost every stress-induced behavioral alteration. Only few cases, however, reflect the human disorder closely enough to deserve this term. Systematic research requires valid animal modeling with clearly defined criteria. This article outlines and discusses criteria for prospective PTSD models, based on a theoretical framework that emphasizes the involvement of both associative and nonassociative memory processes in the development and maintenance of PTSD.