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Sleep Disruption, Safety Learning, and Fear Extinction in Humans: Implications for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

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Behavioral Neurobiology of PTSD

Part of the book series: Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences ((CTBN,volume 38))

Abstract

Fear learning is critical in the development and maintenance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and safety learning and extinction are necessary for recovery. Studies in animal models suggest that sleep disruption, and REM sleep fragmentation in particular, interfere with safety learning and extinction processes, and recently, studies are extending these findings to humans. A discussion of the human literature is presented here, which largely consists of experimental studies in healthy human control subjects. A theoretical model for the relationship between fear learning, sleep disruption, and impaired safety learning and extinction is proposed, which provides an explanatory framework for sleep disruption and its relationship to PTSD. Overall, findings suggest that sleep disruption plays a role in the development and maintenance of PTSD symptoms, and thus presents an important modifiable target in PTSD treatment.

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Acknowledgements

This research received support from the National Institute of Mental Health National Research Service Award No. F31MH106209 (to LDS) and the Veterans Affairs Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health.

VBR’s work has been funded by National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In the last 2 years, she has received funding from Johnson & Johnson and is a consultant for Sunovion Pharmaceuticals. SPAD’s work has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the National Science Foundation, and the National Health and Medical Research Council (Australia). Within the last 2 years, he has received compensation as Secretary Treasurer and President-elect of the Sleep Research Society and sat on an Advisory Board for Arena Pharmaceuticals. SBN’s work has been funded by the National Center for PTSD, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology, San Diego, CA, USA

    Laura D. Straus

  2. Research Service, VA San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, CA, USA

    Laura D. Straus, Victoria B. Risbrough & Sonya B. Norman

  3. Monash Institute of Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience, Monash School of Psychological Sciences, Monash University, Clayton, VIC, Australia

    Sean P. A. Drummond

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Victoria B. Risbrough & Sonya B. Norman

  5. National Center for PTSD, White River Junction, VT, USA

    Sonya B. Norman

Authors
  1. Laura D. Straus
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  2. Sean P. A. Drummond
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  3. Victoria B. Risbrough
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  4. Sonya B. Norman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Laura D. Straus .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department Psychiatry, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands

    Eric Vermetten

  2. Department of Psychiatry, UC San Diego School of Medicine, San Diego, CA, USA

    Dewleen G. Baker

  3. Department of Psychiatry, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA

    Victoria B. Risbrough

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Straus, L.D., Drummond, S.P.A., Risbrough, V.B., Norman, S.B. (2017). Sleep Disruption, Safety Learning, and Fear Extinction in Humans: Implications for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. In: Vermetten, E., Baker, D.G., Risbrough, V.B. (eds) Behavioral Neurobiology of PTSD. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, vol 38. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/7854_2017_31

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