Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 15, 2026

Stress-Enhanced Fear Learning, a Robust Rodent Model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Published on: October 13, 2018
Individual differences in recovery from traumatic fear
Andrew Holmes1, Nicolas Singewald
1Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), National Institute of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA. Andrew.Holmes@nih.gov
Abstract:
Although exposure to major psychological trauma is unfortunately common, risk for related neuropsychiatric conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), varies greatly among individuals. Fear extinction offers a tractable and translatable behavioral readout of individual differences in learned recovery from trauma. Studies in rodent substrains and subpopulations are providing new insights into neural system dysfunctions associated with impaired fear extinction. Rapid progress is also being made in identifying key molecular circuits, epigenetic mechanisms, and gene variants associated with differences in fear extinction. Here, we discuss how this research is informing understanding of the etiology and pathophysiology of individual differences in risk for trauma-related anxiety disorders, and how future work can help identify novel diagnostic biomarkers and pharmacotherapeutics for these disorders.
Related Concept Videos
Traumatic Memory
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder
Symptoms and Behavioral Manifestations
A spectrum of distressing symptoms characterizes PTSD. Recurrent flashbacks, where individuals involuntarily relive traumatic events, are a...
Preparedness and Phobias
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Panic Disorder
Bonanno's Theory of Grieving
Resilience
The resilience...

