Neuronal Basis of Conditioned Defeat

许多物种在其一生中都会经历社会压力。对于人类来说尤其如此，人类冲突和压力的主要来源本质上是社会性的。大量证据表明，暴露于创伤性事件或持续高水平的压力与许多与压力有关的疾病（即创伤后应激障碍、抑郁症、焦虑症）的发展和表达有关。应激相关疾病的动物模型为许多精神病理学的神经生物学基础提供了重要信息。然而，很少有模型在生物学相关的范式中检查了这些疾病。叙利亚仓鼠的条件失败为在生态相关背景下研究应激相关疾病的神经生物学基础提供了理想的模型。当前建议的目标是通过使用特定部位的显微注射到特定的脑核来探索条件失败的神经解剖学和神经化学基础。目前的提议将测试一个假设，即大脑区域和神经化学物质涉及恐惧，焦虑和对压力源的行为反应，一般来说，在条件挫败的获得和表达中也是至关重要的。目前的建议的结果将为条件失败的潜在生理机制提供重要的见解。此外，这些数据将有助于我们了解人类压力相关疾病的神经生物学基础。

Many species experience social stressors during their lifetimes. This is especially true for humans, whose overwhelming source of conflict and stress is social in nature. A large body of evidence suggests that exposure to traumatic events or persistent high levels of stress are linked to the development and expression of a number of stress-related disorders (i.e. PTSD, depression, anxiety disorders). Animal models of stress-related disorders have provided important information about the neurobiological basis of many psychopathologies. Very few models, however, have examined these disorders in a biologically relevant paradigm. Conditioned defeat in Syrian hamsters provides an ideal model for studying the neurobiological basis of stress-related disorders in an ecologically relevant context. The goal of the current proposal is to explore the neuroanatomical and neurochemical basis of conditioned defeat by using site-specific microinjections into specific brain nuclei. The present proposal will test the hypothesis that the brain areas and neurochemicals that are involved in fear, anxiety and behavioral responses to stressors, in general, are also critical in the acquisition and expression of conditioned defeat. The results of the current proposal will provide important insight into the underlying physiological mechanisms of conditioned defeat. Additionally, these data will contribute to our knowledge about the neurobiological basis of human stress-related disorders.