This article reviews how the neural circuitry implicated in Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in humans is related to the neural circuitry of fear. Then authors discuss how fear conditioning is a suitable model for studying the molecular mechanisms of the fear components that underlie PTSD, and the biology of fear conditioning with a particular focus on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-tyrosine kinase B (TrkB), GABAergic and glutamatergic ligand-receptor systems. The authors conclude how such approaches might help to inform our understanding of PTSD and other stress-related disorders and provide insight to new pharmacological avenues of treatment of PTSD.
Mahan, A. L., & Ressler, K. J. (2012). Fear conditioning, synaptic plasticity and the amygdala: implications for posttraumatic stress disorder. Trends in Neurosciences, 35 (1), 24-53.
doi: 10.1016/j.tins.2011.06.007
