The Role of Sleep in Mediating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Abstract
Psychological and/or physical trauma can result in Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).Commonly, PTSD presents with sleep disturbances. However, little is known about the contribution of sleep to the acquisition and maintenance of PTSD symptoms. The goal of this proposal is to first assess the contribution of sleep to the onset of PTSD. Using a rodent model of PTSD, we performed sleep deprivation experiments to determine if sleep loss prior to Single Prolonged Stress (SPS) trauma exposure is sufficient to exaggerate fear associated memory impairments. Experiments are ongoing, but preliminary data suggests that sleep loss prior to trauma does not enhance PTSD symptoms. Secondly, we assess the contribution of sleep to the maintenance of PTSD. For this, we are exposing animals to SPS followed by increasing sleep time via optogenetics. Experiments are ongoing, However, post-trauma-sleep restoration appears to be sufficient to alleviate fear associated memory impairments typically found following trauma exposure in rats.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2020
- Accession Number
- AD1112041
Entities
People
- William M Vanderheyden
Organizations
- Washington State University