Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Two especially valuable animal models of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have been developed, including brief exposure of laboratory rats to a predator (a cat) or its odor, and the single prolonged stress paradigm. In each of these models, laboratory animals are evaluated for behavioral changes several days to several weeks following the stressful experience and are compared to unstressed controls. In both of these models, stressed animals display behavioral changes consistent with a PTSD-like phenotype. Using these models, investigators have explored central and peripheral neural and endocrine changes associated with the onset of PTSD-like symptoms and approaches to prevent or block the effects of the traumatic stressor on behavioral changes. Two particularly effective treatments that have been described include administration of a protein synthesis inhibitor and intra-nasal administration of neuropeptide Y. Animal models also provide an opportunity to study transgenerational transmission of PTSD risk.