Project Summary

Cristina Alberini, Ph.D. (Independent Investigator 2007) of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, will investigate the feasibility of a new approach to treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). PTSD is characterized by acute and chronic changes in the stress response, including alterations in glucocorticoid secretion. Recent studies in Dr. Alberini’s lab have shown in an animal model that fear memories can be disrupted if, following retrieval of the memory, glucocorticoid receptors are inactivated in the amygdala, a brain region that processes fear and anxiety. Dr. Alberini suggests that behavioral exposure therapy coupled with pharmacological intervention targeting the glucocorticoid-mediated pathway may provide a direction for treatment of PTSD.

Program Area: ANXIETY DISORDERS\Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

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