Isolation of the differential effects of chronic and acute stress in a manner that is not confounded by stress severity

Michael A. Conoscenti; Daniel B. Weatherill; Yuqing Huang; Raphael Tordjman; Michael S. Fanselow

Neurobiology of Stress (May 2024)

Isolation of the differential effects of chronic and acute stress in a manner that is not confounded by stress severity

Michael A. Conoscenti,
Daniel B. Weatherill,
Yuqing Huang,
Raphael Tordjman,
Michael S. Fanselow

Affiliations

Michael A. Conoscenti: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Daniel B. Weatherill: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Corresponding author. Department of Radiological Sciences, BR-112C, Center for Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA.
Yuqing Huang: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Raphael Tordjman: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA
Michael S. Fanselow: Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Staglin Center for Brain and Behavioral Health, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA; Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 30
p. 100616

Abstract

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Firm conclusions regarding the differential effects of the maladaptive consequences of acute versus chronic stress on the etiology and symptomatology of stress disorders await a model that isolates chronicity as a variable for studying the differential effects of acute versus chronic stress. This is because most previous studies have confounded chronicity with the total amount of stress. Here, we have modified the stress-enhanced fear learning (SEFL) protocol, which models some aspects of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following an acute stressor, to create a chronic variant that does not have this confound. Comparing results from this new protocol to the acute protocol, we found that chronic stress further potentiates enhanced fear-learning beyond the nonassociative enhancement induced by acute stress. This additional component is not observed when the unconditional stimulus (US) used during subsequent fear learning is distinct from the US used as the stressor, and is enhanced when glucose is administered following stressor exposure, suggesting that it is associative in nature. Furthermore, extinction of stressor-context fear blocks this additional associative component of SEFL as well as reinstatement of generalized fear, suggesting reinstatement of generalized fear may underlie this additional SEFL component.

Published in Neurobiology of Stress

ISSN: 2352-2895 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Medicine: Internal medicine: Neurosciences. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry: Neurology. Diseases of the nervous system; Science: Physiology: Neurophysiology and neuropsychology
Website: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/neurobiology-of-stress/

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