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Modeling Psychological Trauma in Rats

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Basic Neurobiology Techniques

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 152))

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Abstract

Stress is an unavoidable part of our lives. While some types of stress are easily managed by most, extremely stressful situations such as those resulting from experiencing or witnessing of traumatic events can have a long lasting negative impact on our health, often causing serious psychiatric illnesses such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Therapeutic interventions to treat such complex ailments are rather limited and are associated with serious side effects. Better interventions are clearly needed. Understanding the biological impact of stressful life events is central to this need. Animal models offer useful insights. Here we describe a method, which simulates direct as well as vicariously acquired form of psychological stress in male Sprague-Dawley rats. The role of social support considered as a critical component of stress-coping mechanisms were also modeled. Extensive details are provided to promote reproducibility.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant (2R15MH093918-02) and University of Houston start-up funds awarded to Samina Salim.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacological and Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA

    Samina Salim

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  1. Samina Salim
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Correspondence to Samina Salim .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Levine College of Health Sciences, Wingate University, Wingate, NC, USA

    Nicholas J. D. Wright

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Salim, S. (2020). Modeling Psychological Trauma in Rats. In: Wright, N. (eds) Basic Neurobiology Techniques . Neuromethods, vol 152. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9944-6_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-9944-6_9

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-9943-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-9944-6

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