Medial prefrontal cortical activation modulates the impact of controllable and uncontrollable stressor exposure on a social exploration test of anxiety in the rat

Figures & data

Figure 1 Location of cannula injector tips in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex. Anatomical illustrations adapted from The Rat Brain in Stereotaxic Coordinates (Paxinos and Watson 1998).

Figure 2 Escapable stress and social exploration. Mean ( ± SEM) time spent in social exploration of a juvenile during a 3-min test. Escapable stress had no effect on social exploration (ES-Saline group) but inactivation with muscimol microinjection of vmPFC during stress interfered and significantly reduced social exploration in the ES-Muscimol group. HC: home cage controls. ^*ES-Muscimol group significantly less than all other groups, ps < 0.01. n = 8–10 rats per group.

Figure 3 Inescapable stress and social exploration. Mean ( ± SEM) time spent in social exploration of a juvenile during a 3-min test. Inescapable stress (IS-Saline group) reduced social exploration compared to the HC. However, activation of the vmPFC at the time of stress with picrotoxin microinjection (IS-PIX group) completely prevented the effect of stress and social exploration time was similar to controls (HC). ^*IS-Saline group significantly less than HC-Saline and IS-Picrotoxin groups, ps < 0.01. n = 10 rats per group.

Paxinos G, Watson C. The rat brain in stereotaxic coordinates4th ed. Academic Press, New York 1998

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