Citation

Borghans B, Homberg JR. World J. Psychiatry 2015; 5(4): 387-396.

Affiliation

Bart Borghans, Judith R Homberg, Department of Cognitive Neuroscience, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition, and Behaviour, Radboud University Medical Centre, 6525 EZ Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Baishideng Publishing Group)

DOI

10.5498/wjp.v5.i4.387

PMID

26740930

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common anxiety disorder characterised by its persistence of symptoms after a traumatic experience. Although some patients can be cured, many do not benefit enough from the psychological therapies or medication strategies used. Many researchers use animal models to learn more about the disorder and several models are available. The most-used physical stressor models are single-prolonged stress, restraint stress, foot shock, stress-enhanced fear learning, and underwater trauma. Common social stressors are housing instability, social instability, early-life stress, and social defeat. Psychological models are not as diverse and rely on controlled exposure to the test animal's natural predator. While validation of these models has been resolved with replicated symptoms using analogous stressors, translating new findings to human patients remains essential for their impact on the field. Choosing a model to experiment with can be challenging; this overview of what is possible with individual models may aid in making a decision.

Language: en