Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42068391›Full record

ArticlePsychopharmacology2026

A history of chronic adolescent stress attenuates cued fear-potentiated startle in adult female Wistar rats.

Amy J Wegener, Molly M Hyer, Zuby Okafor, Grace Young, Chloe Burns, Emilie Bjerring, Samya Dyer, Paul Howell, Susie Turkson, Tanja Jovanovic and 1 more

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Article in Psychopharmacology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

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0citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

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PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors.

Amy J Wegener *Department of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Molly M Hyer *Department of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Zuby OkaforDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Grace YoungDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Chloe BurnsDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Emilie BjerringDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Samya DyerDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Paul HowellDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Susie TurksonDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA.
Tanja JovanovicPsychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
Gretchen N NeighDepartment of Neuroscience and Anatomy, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1101 East Marshall Street, Richmond, VA, Box 980709, 23298, USA. gretchen.mccandless@vcuhealth.org.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

rationalePost-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a stress and trauma-related disorder that is largely characterized by hyperarousal to fear-based cues. N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are key mediators of fear learning behaviors. Altered NMDA receptor signaling is a hallmark of PTSD pathology that impacts fear memory learning and extinction processes.

objectivesIn the current study, we tested whether exposing adolescent rats to a mixed modality stress paradigm of repeated restraint, social defeat, and individual housing (chronic adolescent stress; CAS) decreased immunoreactivity of the NMDA subunit NR2B in the central amygdala in adulthood. We sought to determine the impact of a peripherally administered NMDA receptor agonist D-cycloserine (DCS) intervention to enhance extinction of learned fear in CAS animals.

methodsUpon reaching adulthood, CAS animals were exposed to a cued fear-potentiated startle paradigm. DCS was administered immediately following the first of two extinction sessions with the goal of enhancing extinction learning.

resultsCAS females expressed impaired fear extinction compared to non-stressed females, but were not influenced by the DCS intervention. Males overall were able to successfully learn fear extinction regardless of stress history, however, DCS treatment may have increased fear potentiated startle responsivity in males with a history of stress.

conclusionsThese data suggest that chronic stress during adolescence modifies NMDA receptor expression, but functional impacts on cued fear learning differ by sex and require additional approaches to better understand the mechanisms underlying stress-induced impairments in fear learning behaviors.

Indexed as

AdolescenceAmygdalaFear learningNMDAPTSDStress

Identifiers

PMID42068391

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.