Traumatic stress effects on brain CRFR1 signaling, nociception & alcohol drinking

Some (but not all) humans exposed to traumatic stress develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is defined by high avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, hyperarousal, and negative affect, and which is highly co-morbid with Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). Our lab utilizes a stress model in which rats are indexed for avoidance of a predator odor-paired context, and divided into “Avoiders” (i.e., high stress reactivity) and “Non-Avoiders” (i.e., low stress reactivity). Previous work by our lab showed that Avoiders exhibit persistent increases in alcohol drinking and altered prefrontal cortex (PFC)-amygdala neuronal activation profiles when exposed to stress-related stimuli.
Source: Alcohol - Category: Addiction Authors: Source Type: research