According to Van Heukelum, the lack of research on the effects of trauma on women is a major problem. ‘If you look at who actually gets a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) diagnosis, it is two to three times more women than men,’ she says. ‘However, most studies on PTSD focus on male subjects, such as soldiers returning from war. But women often develop PTSD due to other types of trauma, such as domestic violence.’
Within the Henckens Stress Lab, Van Heukelum aims to solve the lack of knowledge by studying how the female brain responds to trauma. ‘Women show slightly different symptoms than men, which probably means a different way of processing trauma compared to men,’ she explains. ‘But because so little research has been done on women, we do not know why that is.’
Research with mice
Van Heukelum will use female mouse models in her research in the Translational Neuroscience Unit (TNU): ‘Almost all preclinical studies on trauma are conducted on male mice and rats. Researchers often choose males because they claim that females are more difficult to study due to their hormonal cycle. But studies show that this is not true.’
Van Heukelum ‘s research begins by developing a new mouse model to investigate trauma. She assumes a method in which a female mouse is exposed to aggression from another female mouse. ‘We want to discover behavioural patterns that predict whether a mouse will develop PTSD,’ she says. After the behavioural studies, the research focuses on the brain of the mice. In addition, Van Heukelum wants to further zoom in on the molecular processes involved.
Potential impact
Although the research is still in its early stages, Van Heukelum hopes that her findings could eventually contribute to better treatments for women with PTSD. ‘There is still a long way to go,’ she says. ‘But if we understand more about the differences in trauma processing between men and women, we may be able to develop new therapies that better address the specific needs of women. It is time to give women the attention they deserve in research on trauma and PTSD,’ she concludes.
