Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The Relationship Between the FearResponse and Chronic Stress

摘要

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a disabling psychiatric condition thatcan develop following a physical, psychological, or sexual trauma. Despite thegrowing body of literature examining the psychological and biological factorsinvolved in PTSD psychopathology, specific biomarkers that may improve diagnosisand treatment of PTSD have yet to be identified and validated. This challengemay be attributed to the diverse array of symptoms that individuals with thedisorder manifest. Examining the interrelated stress and fear systems allows fora more comprehensive study of these symptoms, and through this approach, whichaligns with the research domain criteria (RDoC) framework, neural andpsychophysiological measures of PTSD have emerged. In this review, we discussPTSD neurobiology and treatment within the context of fear and stress networkinteractions and elucidate the advantages of using an RDoC approach to betterunderstand PTSD with fear conditioning and extinction paradigms.