Response-Specific Sex Difference in the Retention of Fear Extinction

Fear conditioning studies in rodents allow us to assess vulnerability factors which might underlie fear-based psychopathology such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite PTSD being more prevalent in females than males, very few fear conditioning studies in rodents have tested females. Our...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Learning & memory (Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.) N.Y.), 2017-06, Vol.24 (6), p.245-251
Main Authors: Voulo, Meagan E, Parsons, Ryan G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acoustic Stimulation
Animals
Conditioning
Conditioning, Classical
Extinction, Psychological - physiology
Fear
Fear - physiology
Female
Freezing Reaction, Cataleptic - physiology
Gender Differences
Learning Processes
Male
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Reflex, Startle - physiology
Responses
Retention (Psychology)
Retention (Psychology) - physiology
Sex Differentiation
Time Factors
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Summary:Fear conditioning studies in rodents allow us to assess vulnerability factors which might underlie fear-based psychopathology such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Despite PTSD being more prevalent in females than males, very few fear conditioning studies in rodents have tested females. Our study assessed fear conditioning and extinction in male and female rats using both fear-potentiated startle and freezing behavior as measures. Rats were trained to fear cues that predicted the occurrence of shock and then subsequently exposed to an extinction training procedure where the cue was presented repeatedly in the absence of shock. Retention of the extinction memory was assessed the next day. Our results showed that females exhibited less retention of fear extinction, but only when measured by fear-potentiated startle. Our results highlight the importance of using multiple indices of fear behavior, particularly when comparing sexes on measures of extinction learning.
ISSN:1072-0502
1549-5485
1549-5485
DOI:10.1101/lm.045641.117