In this review article, genetic variation associated with brain responses related to acute and chronic stress reactivity and fear learning in humans is presented as an important mechanism underlying posttraumatic stress disorder. We report that genes related to the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, as well as genes that modulate serotonergic, dopaminergic, and neuropeptidergic functions or plasticity, play a role in this context. The strong overlap of the genetic targets involved in stress and fear learning suggests that a dimensional and mechanistic model of the development of posttraumatic stress disorder based on these constructs is promising. Genome-wide genetic analyses on fear and stress mechanisms are scarce. So far, reliable replication is still lacking for most of the molecular genetic findings, and the proportion of explained variance is rather small. Further analysis of neurogenetic stress and fear learning needs to integrate data from animal and human studies.

中文翻译：

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人类压力和恐惧的神经遗传学方法作为创伤后应激障碍的病理生理机制

在这篇综述文章中，与人类急性和慢性应激反应和恐惧学习相关的大脑反应相关的遗传变异被认为是创伤后应激障碍的重要机制。我们报告与下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺轴调节相关的基因，以及调节血清素、多巴胺和神经肽能功能或可塑性的基因在这种情况下发挥作用。压力和恐惧学习中涉及的遗传目标的强烈重叠表明，基于这些结构的创伤后应激障碍发展的维度和机制模型是有希望的。对恐惧和压力机制的全基因组遗传分析很少。到目前为止，大多数分子遗传学发现仍然缺乏可靠的复制，并且解释方差的比例很小。对神经遗传压力和恐惧学习的进一步分析需要整合来自动物和人类研究的数据。