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Evaluating Social Support-Like Phenomena in an Animal Model of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Christoph K Thoeringer and Carsten T Wotjak

Social interactions contribute significantly to emotional regulation and, hence, foster resilience for psychopathological states and diseases. In particular, social support is supposed to buffer the development and distress in Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). In the present study, we investigated the effect of different adult social housing conditions, i.e., socially isolated vs. paired housing in dyads, and the presence of social support regarding development and maintenance of PTSD-like symptoms in a mouse model of PTSD. In a first analysis, we could not detect effects of single versus dyad housing of male mice on unconditioned anxiety, acoustic startle reactivity or sensitized and conditioned long-term fear. However, mice housed in dyads displayed enhanced extinction of contextual fear 1 month after trauma. In a second analysis, we did not find evidence for social support-like phenomena among dyad housed animals, if traumatized mice were cohabited with a non-traumatized animal.In summary, we could not detect social support-like phenomena among dyad housed male mice on the development and expression of PTSD-like symptoms in an animal model, but impaired extinction of remote contextual fear in singlehoused mice.