Acute inescapable stress exposure induces long-term sleep disturbances and avoidance behavior: A mouse model of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

The experience of traumatic stress often leads to long-lasting alteration in sleep quality and behavior. The objective of the present experiment was to investigate the short- and long-term effects of acute inescapable stress (i.e. two electric foot-shocks of 1.5 mA; 2s) on sleep/wakefulness parameters and behavior in Swiss mice using electroencephalographic (EEG) analysis. Baseline EEG recording was performed in the home cage for 6h prior to the application of the foot-shocks in the presence of an object (i.e. a plastic prism). One, 7, 14 or 21 days later, a second 6h EEG recording session was performed after mice had been exposed or not to the same object for 5 min in their home cage. Results showed that at day 1, 7, 14 and 21 post-stress, shocked mice displayed sleep fragmentation as shown by an increase in the number of sleep episodes, regardless the presence of the object or not. In animals exposed to the object, the total duration of wakefulness over 6h was significantly increased at days 7, 14 and 21 post-stress, and rapid eye movement (REM) sleep was significantly decreased at day 14 post-shock. Moreover, in the behavioral experiment, conditioned avoidance to a shock-paired object, which appeared as soon as 24h after shock application, turned into generalized avoidance towards an unknown object 21 days after stress. These findings demonstrate that an acute inescapable stress exposure may cause long-lasting alterations in sleep patterns and behavior. Such modifications may be reminiscent of the profound changes observed in patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.