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Mentor(s): Jennifer Quinn, Ph.D., and Amanda Reichert

Individuals who develop stress related psychiatric conditions in adulthood often have a history of early life adversity, indicating that such early stress may serve as a key risk factor for later trauma and anxiety related disorders. Developing animal models of psychiatric dysfunction is crucial for identifying "vulnerability considerations, potential biomarkers, and novel treatment avenues" aimed at improving mental health outcomes. In this study’s model of acute early life stress (aELS), rats were exposed to 15 foot shocks in one session on postnatal day 17. The subsequent experiments assessed the long term effects of this procedure on stress enhanced fear learning, anxiety like behaviors, sustained fear responses, and resistance to extinction in both male and female adult rats. Results revealed that the aELS model led to heightened fear learning and elevated anxiety, with the increased fear persisting over time but still responding normally to extinction protocols. These findings suggest that exposure to 15 foot shocks early in life (on postnatal day 17) "recapitulates a number of important features of trauma and anxiety related disorder symptomatology," though not all. Further research is necessary to explore the enduring physiological effects of aELS and to uncover the neurobiological mechanisms behind these long-term changes.