Michael A Matar's research while affiliated with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and other places

... One line of research (Kuriyama et al., 2010;Porcheret, Holmes, Goodwin, Foster, & Wulff, 2015) hypothesizes that sleep-related consolidation mechanisms strengthen implicit memory processes, thereby facilitating intrusion development after trauma. Consequently, sleep deprivation during the night after trauma is proposed as a prevention strategy (Cohen et al., 2023). Another line of research (e.g., Kleim et al., 2016;Sopp, Brueckner, Schäfer, Lass-Hennemann, & Michael, 2019;Zeng, Lau, Li, & Hu, 2021) suggests that -by selectively strengthening explicit rather than implicit trauma memories -sleep may reduce intrusion development. ...

... All behavioral tests were video-recorded using the ETHO-VISION program (Noldus), by an investigator blinded to the experimental protocol. Behaviors of specimens were assessed using OFT, EPM and ASR, as described previously [24][25][26]. Detailed protocols are described in Supplementary Information #3:1. ...

... In fact, increased anxiety-like behaviour in the EPM has been observed in animal models of PTSD [28][29][30], and patients with PTSD suffer from anxiety [52]. An increased frequency of grooming has been observed in animal models of PTSD [54] and rats administered an antagonist of the orexin A/B receptor, a peptide found to be reduced in people with PTSD [55]. These behaviours have been related to aversive state and negative emotional behaviours [56], showing that stressed animals are less resilient to developing PTSD-associated symptoms, as revealed by PCA. ...

... Hydrocortisone (Sigma-Aldrich, Rehovot, Israel) in a dose of 25 mg/kg was dissolved in 9% saline solution. The Hydrocortisone dose was determined according to our previous study [82,83]. RU486 (Mifepristone) (Sigma-Aldrich, Israel) in a dose of 7.5 mg (approximately 30 mg/kg) was dissolved in 0.5 mL propylene glycol vehicle. ...

... Eventually, it may disappear altogether and no longer be retrievable. 5,6 Memory is a core topic of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which is involved in the majority of trauma-related phenomena. ...

... Corticosterone administration after cued fear conditioning also suppresses fear-potentiated anxiety as measured by the EPM one week after the administration [72]. Blood sample analysis has revealed that a reduced secretion of corticosterone under basal conditions predicts greater anxiety and avoidance responses, correlating with a decreased corticosterone response to subsequent stressors [73]. In our study, we confirmed that DBS-STN significantly increased the plasma corticosterone levels in rats with early models of PD. ...

... 1 In this model, populations of exposed rodents are classified according to the degree of their behavioral response using standardized "cutoff behavioral criteria," creating the following three distinct groups: "extreme behavioral response" (EBR) and "minimal behavioral response" at the extremes and a middle group of "partial responders". [43][44][45][46][47] The relative prevalence rates of individuals displaying the different degrees of disrupted behavior indicate the potential efficacy of the "treatment" under study. We hypothesized that interfering with memory consolidation processes by 6 h of SD immediately after a traumatic experience will reduce post-traumatic stress symptoms and incidence. ...

... DAI reflects white-matter (WM) damage from sustained forces acting on the brain, shearing axons and microscopic changes [30,81] and can be visualized using diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI, [7,26,44,53,56,83]. Microstructural changes in the brain were evident in rats following exposure [85] and repeated exposure [4] to blast wave, suggesting these might underlie PCS symptomatology in humans as well. Despite inconsistencies see reviews by [3,52] numerous mTBI studies in humans report abnormal diffusion in frontal association, projection, and commissural fibers [29,40,44,53,56,65,66,83] suggesting these might play a role in PCS. ...

... S1 and S3A, B). This cutoff was chosen to capture animals with the most extreme behavioral responses and to model the prevalence rates of high-anxiety behavior seen in rats and clinical populations [62]. Binary outcomes were then summed across all measures (Fig. S3C). ...

... Entries in Open Arms Total Entries in All Arms with higher scores interpreted as greater anxiety-like behavior (Range 0-1; (Cohen et al., 2012;Cohen et al., 2007;Cohen et al., 2008;Mazor et al., 2009). The anxiety index integrates all EPM behavioral measures, that would have otherwise been assessed separately, in order to get a more comprehensive metric of anxiety (Cohen et al., 2012). ...