Fig. 3.

Oxytocin decreased anxiety-like behavior in females in proestrus/estrus, but not in females in metestrus/diestrus. Oxytocin increased open zone entries (C, D), but not open zone occupancy (A, B) in pooled data. Further analysis demonstrates that oxytocin increased open zone entries in females in proestrus/estrus, but not in females in metestrus/diestrus. The plots show pooled data for females in proestrus/estrus and females in metestrus/diestrus for open zone occupancy (A) and entries (C) with female in proestrus/estrus represented as ▲ and females in metestrus/diestrus represented as ▽. Separate plots for females in proestrus/estrus and females in metestrus/diestrus in open zone occupancy (B) and entries (D) are also shown. Two-way ANOVAs were calculated to analyze females in proestrus/estrus vs. females in metestrus/diestrus data. The Holm-Sidak's multiple comparison test followed the main effect of treatment for open zone entries. *p < 0.05, difference from vehicle (VEH) in pooled plots. Because the estrous cycle phase × treatment interaction approached significance for open zone entries, Holm Sidak's multiple comparison tests were used to further assess the females in proestrus/estrus and females in metestrus/diestrus data separately; ^☨p < 0.05, difference from VEH in separate plots. See Section 3.2 (Results) for details. Representative pictures of vaginal cytology across estrous cycle phases are shown in E (proestrus), F (estrus), G (metestrus), and H (diestrus).