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373 The brain under stress: How a history of unpredictable shock affects neural processing of future stressors
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 April 2024
Abstract
OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Determine how a history of unpredictable foot shock in mice affects brain wide patterns of neural activation to future stressors. Additionally, we aimed to characterize how the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is involved in the fear sensitization process. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We used a mouse model of stress enhanced fear learning, where stressed mice are first subjected to a series of unpredictable foot shocks in a novel context while control mice undergo exposure to the novel context without experiencing foot shock. Mice are then left undisturbed for 28 days, following which they are exposed to a single foot shock in a novel context. Mice are tested in the second context 24 hours after single shock, and the amount of time spent frozen in the context provides a measure of fear sensitization. Whole brain patterns of activation during the second context test will be assessed via whole brain optical clearing with antibody staining of immediate early genes. The role of the PVT in fear sensitization will be characterized using chemogenetic approaches. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Our preliminary results demonstrate that mice display enhanced fear acquisition long after the initial experience of unpredictable shocks. We anticipate to identify regions previously implicated in fear learning and novel regions not previously described through our brain clearing approach. In addition, we anticipate chemogenetic inhibition of the PVT will reduce freezing to an auditory cue associated with the shock in the second context but not to the context itself. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings will provide a comprehensive view of how a history of unpredictable stress affects whole brain processing of subsequent stressful experiences, and describe the role of the PVT in cued fear sensitization.
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- This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
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- © The Author(s), 2024. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science