# Heterogeneity in Stress Effects on Fear Learning, Ethanol Consumption and Anxiety

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES · 2020 · $368,345

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
A small but significant percentage of people that experience a traumatic, life-threatening, event develop a
condition called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which is characterized by heightened anxiety and
disturbed fear processing. The condition is more prevalent in women. Additionally, PTSD is highly comorbid
with other psychiatric conditions notably alcohol abuse. We have developed an animal model that captures
many of the features of PTSD and as such should be helpful in developing an understanding of the biological
changes that produce the disorder and suggesting novel treatments. Here we propose to use a milder stress
than we have used in our published work because it produces enhanced fear learning in a smaller proportion
of animals (18%) that better approximates the rate of PTSD in humans. The rats subjected to this stress will
be tested on a number of measures of anxiety, altered fear processing and alcohol intake. We will use this as a
tool to understand how PTSD symptoms group together to form subtypes and how these subtypes relate to the
brain changes that cause maladaptive behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9977941
- **Project number:** 5R01AA026530-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LOS ANGELES
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael S Fanselow
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $368,345
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-12 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9977941

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9977941, Heterogeneity in Stress Effects on Fear Learning, Ethanol Consumption and Anxiety (5R01AA026530-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9977941. Licensed CC0.

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