Brain, behavior, and physiological changes associated with predator stress-An animal model for trauma exposure in adult and neonatal rats

Stacey L Kigar; Amelia Cuarenta; Carla L Zuniga; Liza Chang; Anthony P Auger; Vaishali P Bakshi

doi:10.3389/fnmol.2024.1322273

Brain, behavior, and physiological changes associated with predator stress-An animal model for trauma exposure in adult and neonatal rats

Front Mol Neurosci. 2024 Feb 29:17:1322273. doi: 10.3389/fnmol.2024.1322273. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Stacey L Kigar^{1

2}, Amelia Cuarenta³, Carla L Zuniga⁴, Liza Chang⁵, Anthony P Auger⁶, Vaishali P Bakshi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
² Department of Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
³ Neuroscience Institute, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, United States.
⁴ Department of Psychiatry, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI, United States.
⁵ College of Agricultural and Life Sciences Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.
⁶ Department of Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, United States.

Abstract

The use of predators and predator odor as stressors is an important and ecologically relevant model for studying the impact of behavioral responses to threat. Here we summarize neural substrates and behavioral changes in rats resulting from predator exposure. We briefly define the impact predator exposure has on neural targets throughout development (neonatal, juvenile, and adulthood). These findings allow us to conceptualize the impact of predator exposure in the brain, which in turn may have broader implications for human disorders such as PTSD. Importantly, inclusion of sex as a biological variable yields distinct results that may indicate neural substrates impacted by predator exposure differ based on sex.

Keywords: amygdala; biological sex; development; epigenetics; ferret; post-traumatic stress disorder; predator.

Grants and funding

The data shown in Figure 2 were funded by NIH #T32 GM008688 to SK and NSF IOS-1122074 to AA. SK is supported by the Cambridge NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (BRC). Views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the University of Cambridge, NHS, NIHR, or Department of Health.