# Determining astrocytic contributions to memory-related dimensions of PTSD

> **NIH NIH R21** · CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $216,658

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a devastating neuropsychiatric disorder that develops after
trauma. A previous history of stress exposure significantly increases the likelihood of developing PTSD after a
traumatic event. Deficits in extinction learning are a debilitating and core symptom of PTSD. This inability to
learn that stimuli previously linked to trauma are no longer threatening causes maladaptive fear expression
toward these stimuli. Efforts to reduce stress-induced deficits in extinction learning have included identifying
stress-induced perturbations of molecular pathways in the brain. Most of this work has either treated brain
regions as a homogeneous population of cells or mainly focused on neurons. While glia are the most populous
cells in the nervous system, we have little appreciation for their contribution to stress-induced deficits in
extinction learning. In this proposal, we examine how molecular events in astrocytes (the most predominant
glial cell population) influence stress-induced deficits in extinction learning. More specifically, we study the
relationship between astrocytes in the infra-limbic prefrontal cortex, a brain region important for extinction
learning and stress-induced deficits in extinction learning. We hypothesize that in the adult brain, stress-
induced deficits in extinction learning are, in part, mediated by stress hormone action and increased activity of
developmental signaling pathways, in astrocytes of the infra-limbic prefrontal cortex. To test this hypothesis,
we will study stress-induced deficits in extinction learning after manipulating stress hormone receptor function
and the activity of developmental signaling cascades in astrocytes of the infra-limbic prefrontal cortex.
Successful outcomes from our work will shed new light on how molecular function in astrocytes contribute to
stress-induced impairments in extinction learning. Additionally, our work has the potential to recommend new
cell-type specific molecular pathways that could be targeted to mitigate a highly prevalent and debilitating
memory-related dimension of PTSD.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10252235
- **Project number:** 7R21MH119455-03
- **Recipient organization:** CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Brian George DIAS
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $216,658
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2021-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10252235

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10252235, Determining astrocytic contributions to memory-related dimensions of PTSD (7R21MH119455-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10252235. Licensed CC0.

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