Biomarkers of vulnerability to trauma-induced long-term adverse behavioral changes
Most people experience at least one traumatic event during their lifetime. While the majority of individuals recover without long-term consequences, 10-30% of trauma-exposed individuals develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a complex, severe and lasting mental condition which fundamentally decreases life quality. Therapeutic interventions in PTSD are insufficiently resolved to this day. Identification of individuals vulnerable to trauma-induced development of PTSD and treatment strategies selectively targeting this subpopulation represents a major clinical challenge with high therapeutic potential. Employing a translational laboratory animal model of trauma-induced lasting adverse behavioral changes, our group aims to identify behavioral markers of vulnerability and their neural correlates.
In our models, we identify distinct resilient and vulnerable subpopulations, based on the strength of generalized fear responses, characterized by fearful behavior in a neutral context not associated with previous trauma, a deliberating core symptom of PTSD. Recently, we have highlighted certain pre-trauma cognitive and emotional characteristics that show strong predictive power of vulnerability to enhanced trauma-induced generalized fear. Assessment of neural correlates of vulnerability with a series of histological and molecular biology approaches revealed two major neuronal constructs of vulnerability at the level of the prefrontal cortex and endocannabinoid signaling. Currently, we aim to identify neural network-related alterations linked to vulnerability at whole-brain level, by combining cutting-edge microscopy and computational approaches.