TRAUMA AND CUE-ASSOCIATED WORKING MEMORY DEFICITS IN A RAT MODEL OF POSTTRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is associated with a variety of neural and behavioral alterations in response to trauma exposure, including working memory impairments. Rodent models of PTSD have not fully investigated chronic or reactive working memory deficits, despite clinical relevance. The present study utilizes footshock trauma to induce a posttraumatic stress state in rats and evaluates the effect of trauma and trauma-paired odor cues on working memory performance in the odor span task. Results demonstrate the emergence of chronic deficits in working memory among traumatized animals by three weeks post-trauma. The presentation of a trauma-paired odor cue was associated with further decrement in working memory performance. Further, anxiety-like behaviors indicative of PTSD can predict the degree of working memory impairment in response to the trauma-paired odor cue. This study enhances validation of an existing rodent model of PTSD through replication of the clinical observations of working memory deficits associated with PTSD. This will facilitate future work to probe underlying mechanistic dysregulation of working memory following trauma exposure and for future development of novel treatment strategies.