# Prefrontal circuits of active avoidance under social conditions in rats

> **NIH NIH P20** · KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $217,281

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: DIEHL PROJECT
Individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders show excessive fear
and persistent avoidance of activities, places, or people associated with their emotional trauma. Not only does
emotional trauma impair one’s ability to appropriately assess dangerous situations, but may also lead to
deficits in social interactions. The goal of this project is to understand the neural mechanisms of avoidance
under social conditions. To study the effect of social conditions on avoidance circuits, rats undergo platform-
mediated avoidance (PMA), in which rats avoid a tone-signaled shock by stepping onto a nearby platform, in
the presence of another rat. This social partner will have one of three trauma-related experiences: PMA-
conditioned, fear-conditioned, or naïve (no previous conditioning). Single-unit electrophysiological recordings
combined with optogenetic approaches will be used to identify prefrontal regions whose activity correlates with
behaviors during PMA under the different social conditions. We will first characterize behavioral differences in
the acquisition and expression of PMA under social conditions versus alone (Aim 1), then measure single unit
activity in the anterior cingulate (ACC) or prelimbic (PL) prefrontal cortex during the same conditions of the task
(Aim 2), and finally determine whether ACC activity is necessary for the social partner PMA task using
optogenetics (Aim 3). These findings will further our understanding of the differences between the neural
circuits of active avoidance under social versus solo conditions and their relevance to PTSD and other anxiety
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10496510
- **Project number:** 2P20GM113109-06
- **Recipient organization:** KANSAS STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Maria Magdalena Diehl
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $217,281
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 2017-07-15 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10496510

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10496510, Prefrontal circuits of active avoidance under social conditions in rats (2P20GM113109-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10496510. Licensed CC0.

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