Social isolation, an environmental stressor, induces anxiety and prolongs recovery from psychological trauma in humans. In the present study, we utilized a fear-potentiated startle paradigm, a valid measure of anxiety observable in rodents and humans, to model continuous isolation in rats. We found that while short-term isolation did not affect fear-learning, continuous isolation prolonged cued fear extinction. Surprisingly, isolation did not affect threat discrimination ability. These findings highlight the critical role of social environment in the modulation of fear memory, opening new avenues of investigation.
