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Updated: Jul 9, 2026
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Published on: December 15, 2023
Strain specific fear behaviour and glucocorticoid response to aversive events: modelling PTSD in mice
V Brinks1, E R de Kloet, M S Oitzl
1Division of Medical Pharmacology, LACDR/LUMC, Gorlaeus Laboratories, Leiden University, 2300 RA, Leiden, The Netherlands. v.brinks@lacdr.leidenuniv.nl
Abstract:
"Pavlovian" fear conditioning in rodents allows studying the formation and extinction of fear memories. Male C57BL/6J but not BALB/c mice showed differential fear memory performance expressed as freezing and scanning behaviour for context and cue. Glucocorticoid stress hormones modulate the processing of fear-related stimuli. The augmented corticosterone response of BALB/c mice to conditioning and testing, therefore, might have contributed to the strain-dependent formation of fear memories. We propose that modulation of extinction processes by glucocorticoids can be relevant in modelling anxiety disorders.
