The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress-associated complex and debilitating psychiatric disorder due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters in response to traumatic events or fear. PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance behavior, hyperarousal, negative emotions, insomnia, person...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-12-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1281401/full |
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| author | Javed Iqbal Javed Iqbal Geng-Di Huang Geng-Di Huang Yan-Xue Xue Mei Yang Xiao-Jian Jia |
| author_facet | Javed Iqbal Javed Iqbal Geng-Di Huang Geng-Di Huang Yan-Xue Xue Mei Yang Xiao-Jian Jia |
| author_sort | Javed Iqbal |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress-associated complex and debilitating psychiatric disorder due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters in response to traumatic events or fear. PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance behavior, hyperarousal, negative emotions, insomnia, personality changes, and memory problems following exposure to severe trauma. However, the biological mechanisms and symptomatology underlying this disorder are still largely unknown or poorly understood. Considerable evidence shows that PTSD results from a dysfunction in highly conserved brain systems involved in regulating stress, anxiety, fear, and reward circuitry. This review provides a contemporary update about PTSD, including new data from the clinical and preclinical literature on stress, PTSD, and fear memory consolidation and extinction processes. First, we present an overview of well-established laboratory models of PTSD and discuss their clinical translational value for finding various treatments for PTSD. We then highlight the research progress on the neural circuits of fear and extinction-related behavior, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. We further describe different molecular mechanisms, including GABAergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic, and neurotropic signaling, responsible for the structural and functional changes during fear acquisition and fear extinction processes in PTSD. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:57:16Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9f9da184d61d460e9852c099fe4cb22e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1662-453X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T02:57:16Z |
| publishDate | 2023-12-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Neuroscience |
| spelling | doaj.art-9f9da184d61d460e9852c099fe4cb22e2023-12-05T04:14:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Neuroscience1662-453X2023-12-011710.3389/fnins.2023.12814011281401The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorderJaved Iqbal0Javed Iqbal1Geng-Di Huang2Geng-Di Huang3Yan-Xue Xue4Mei Yang5Xiao-Jian Jia6Shenzhen Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaShenzhen Graduate School, Peking University Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaNational Institute on Drug Dependence and Beijing Key Laboratory of Drug Dependence, Peking University, Beijing, ChinaDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaDepartment of Addiction Medicine, Shenzhen Engineering Research Center for Precision Psychiatric Technology, Shenzhen Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders, Shenzhen Kangning Hospital and Shenzhen Mental Health Center; Clinical College of Mental Health, Shenzhen University Health Science Center; Affiliated Mental Health Center, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong, ChinaPost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress-associated complex and debilitating psychiatric disorder due to an imbalance of neurotransmitters in response to traumatic events or fear. PTSD is characterized by re-experiencing, avoidance behavior, hyperarousal, negative emotions, insomnia, personality changes, and memory problems following exposure to severe trauma. However, the biological mechanisms and symptomatology underlying this disorder are still largely unknown or poorly understood. Considerable evidence shows that PTSD results from a dysfunction in highly conserved brain systems involved in regulating stress, anxiety, fear, and reward circuitry. This review provides a contemporary update about PTSD, including new data from the clinical and preclinical literature on stress, PTSD, and fear memory consolidation and extinction processes. First, we present an overview of well-established laboratory models of PTSD and discuss their clinical translational value for finding various treatments for PTSD. We then highlight the research progress on the neural circuits of fear and extinction-related behavior, including the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. We further describe different molecular mechanisms, including GABAergic, glutamatergic, cholinergic, and neurotropic signaling, responsible for the structural and functional changes during fear acquisition and fear extinction processes in PTSD.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1281401/fullposttraumatic stress disorderprefrontal cortexamygdalahippocampusneural circuitry |
| spellingShingle | Javed Iqbal Javed Iqbal Geng-Di Huang Geng-Di Huang Yan-Xue Xue Mei Yang Xiao-Jian Jia The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder Frontiers in Neuroscience posttraumatic stress disorder prefrontal cortex amygdala hippocampus neural circuitry |
| title | The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| title_full | The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| title_fullStr | The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| title_full_unstemmed | The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| title_short | The neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| title_sort | neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying fear dysregulation in posttraumatic stress disorder |
| topic | posttraumatic stress disorder prefrontal cortex amygdala hippocampus neural circuitry |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2023.1281401/full |
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