TY - JOUR
T1 - Individual differences in fear
T2 - Isolating fear reactivity and fear recovery phenotypes
AU - Bush, David E.A.
AU - Sotres-Bayon, Francisco
AU - LeDoux, Joseph E.
PY - 2007/8
Y1 - 2007/8
N2 - Although different people respond differently to threatening events, animal research on the neural basis of fear tends to focus on typical responses. Yet there are substantial individual differences between animals exposed to identical behavioral procedures. In an effort to begin to understand the nature and causes of fear variability and resilience, we separated outbred Sprague-Dawley rats into high and low reactivity, and fast and slow recovery phenotypes, based on freezing levels during fear conditioning and extinction, respectively. Subsequent tests revealed stable differences in both measures, indicating that fear responses reflect trait-like phenotypes in outbred animals. Because clinical disorders may reflect extreme phenotypes, identification of the biological basis for these differences could provide insights into human individual differences in fear.
AB - Although different people respond differently to threatening events, animal research on the neural basis of fear tends to focus on typical responses. Yet there are substantial individual differences between animals exposed to identical behavioral procedures. In an effort to begin to understand the nature and causes of fear variability and resilience, we separated outbred Sprague-Dawley rats into high and low reactivity, and fast and slow recovery phenotypes, based on freezing levels during fear conditioning and extinction, respectively. Subsequent tests revealed stable differences in both measures, indicating that fear responses reflect trait-like phenotypes in outbred animals. Because clinical disorders may reflect extreme phenotypes, identification of the biological basis for these differences could provide insights into human individual differences in fear.
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U2 - 10.1002/jts.20261
DO - 10.1002/jts.20261
M3 - Article
C2 - 17721971
AN - SCOPUS:34748913575
SN - 0894-9867
VL - 20
SP - 413
EP - 422
JO - Journal of Traumatic Stress
JF - Journal of Traumatic Stress
IS - 4
ER -