The advent of fear conditioning as an animal model of post-traumatic stress disorder: Learning from the past to shape the future of PTSD research
Neuron. 2021-06-01; :
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2021.05.017
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Bienvenu TCM(1), Dejean C(2), Jercog D(2), Aouizerate B(3), Lemoine M(4), Herry C(5).
Author information:
(1)Neurocentre Magendie, Inserm U1215, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Université de Bordeaux, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Centre Hospitalier Charles Perrens, 33076 Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: .
(2)Neurocentre Magendie, Inserm U1215, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Université de Bordeaux, 33077 Bordeaux, France.
(3)Université de Bordeaux, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Centre Hospitalier Charles Perrens, 33076 Bordeaux, France; INRAE, Bordeaux INP, NutriNeuro, UMR 1286, 33076 Bordeaux, France.
(4)Université de Bordeaux, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Université de Bordeaux, CNRS, ImmunoConcEpT, UMR 5164, 33000 Bordeaux, France.
(5)Neurocentre Magendie, Inserm U1215, 33077 Bordeaux, France; Université de Bordeaux, 33077 Bordeaux, France. Electronic address: .
Translational research on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has produced limited improvements in clinical practice. Fear conditioning (FC) is one of the dominant animal models of PTSD. In fact, FC is used in many different ways to model PTSD. The variety of FC-based models is ill defined, creating confusion and conceptual vagueness, which in turn impedes translation into the clinic. This article takes a historical and conceptual approach to provide a comprehensive picture of current research and help reorient the research focus. This work historically reviews the variety of models that have emerged from the initial association of PTSD with FC, highlighting conceptual pitfalls that have limited the translation of animal research into clinical advances. We then provide some guidance on how future translational research could benefit from conceptual and technological improvements to translate basic findings in patients. This objective will require transdisciplinary approaches and should involve physicians, engineers, philosophers, and neuroscientists.