The Impacts of Sex Differences and Sex Hormones on Fear Extinction.

Fear extinction memories are strongly modulated by sex and hormonal status, but the exact mechanisms are still being discovered. In humans, there are some basal and task-related features in which male and female individuals differ in fear conditioning paradigms. However, analyses considering the effects of sex hormones demonstrate a role for estradiol in fear extinction memory consolidation.

Glucocorticoid-based pharmacotherapies preventing PTSD.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a highly disabling psychiatric condition that may arise after exposure to acute and severe trauma. It is a highly prevalent mental disorder worldwide, and the current treatment options for these patients remain limited due to low effectiveness. The time window right after traumatic events provides clinicians with a unique opportunity for preventive interventions against potential deleterious alterations in brain function that lead to PTSD.

Direct and Indirect Measurements of Sex Hormones in Rodents During Fear Conditioning.

Fear conditioning (FC) is a widely accepted tool for the assessment of learning and memory processes in rodents related to normal and dysregulated acquired fear. The study of sex differences in fear learning and memory is vast and currently increasing. Sex hormones have proven to be crucial for fear memory formation in males and females, and several methods have been developed to assess this hormonal state in rats and mice.