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. 2023 Feb 21;48(9):1328–1337. doi: 10.1038/s41386-023-01551-1

Fig. 1. Chronic corticosterone treatment increases plasma CORT levels in males, decreases plasma CBG levels in both sexes, and impairs motivation.

Fig. 1

A Experimental timeline for pellet implantation and plasma CORT and CBG measurements. B Plasma corticosterone (ng/mL) in male and female mice implanted with a placebo or corticosterone (35 mg; CORT) pellet. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment ****p < 0.0001, main effect of sex p < 0.01, main effect of treatment x sex interaction p < 0.001, multiple comparisons ####p < 0.0001. C Plasma CBG (ng/mL) in male and female mice implanted with a placebo or corticosterone (35 mg; CORT) pellet. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment ***p < 0.001. D Experimental timeline for pellet implantation and operant behavior paradigms with schematic of fixed ratio (FR) paradigms. E Days to reach criterion for FR1 in male mice. Unpaired two-tailed t-test *p < 0.05. Each point represents an individual. F Days to reach criterion for FR1 in female mice. Unpaired two-tailed t-test ****p < 0.0001. Each point represents an individual. G Percent active nosepokes over days of FR1 until criterion was met in Placebo- (grey) and CORT-treated (pink) male mice. Each point represents mean ± SEM percent active nosepokes for a given day of FR1 training. H Percent active nosepokes over days of FR1 until criterion was met in Placebo- (black) and CORT-treated (purple) female mice. Each point represents mean ± SEM percent active nosepokes for a given day of FR1 training. I Active nosepoking rates of Placebo- (N = 8) and CORT- (N = 9) treated male mice across operant behavior paradigms. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment *p < 0.05, main effect of treatment x paradigm interaction p < 0.001. J Active nosepoking rates of Placebo- (N = 7) and CORT- (N = 7) treated female mice across operant behavior paradigms. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment *p < 0.05, main effect of treatment x paradigm interaction p < 0.001. K Inactive nosepoking rates of Placebo- and CORT-treated male mice across operant behavior paradigms. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment *p < 0.05. L Inactive nosepoking rates of Placebo- and CORT-treated female mice across operant behavior paradigms. M Reward rates of Placebo- and CORT-treated male mice across operant behavior paradigms. N Reward rates of Placebo- and CORT-treated female mice across operant behavior paradigms Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment **p < 0.01, main effect of treatment x paradigm interaction p < 0.01, multiple comparisons #p < 0.05. O Time to completion of operant session (in minutes) for Placebo- and CORT-treated male mice across operant behavior paradigms. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment x paradigm interaction p < 0.05. P Time to completion of operant sessions (in minutes) for Placebo- and CORT-treated female mice across operant behavior paradigms. Two-way ANOVA, main effect of treatment ***p < 0.001, main effect of treatment x paradigm interaction p < 0.05. Data presented as mean ± SEM.