Figure 4.

mPFC inactivation. The mPFC was inactivated with muscimol or infused with aCSF during the stressor. One day later, animals were trained with delay conditioning. A, Males treated with muscimol and stressed emitted more CRs than those treated with either vehicle or muscimol and not stressed. They performed similarly to those that were stressed and infused with aCSF. Thus, inactivating the mPFC did not prevent the stress-induced facilitation of learning in males. B, Stressed females infused with vehicle expressed fewer CRs than their unstressed counterparts. However, when females were infused with muscimol during the stressor, they increased responding and performed similarly to those that were unstressed. Thus, in contrast to males, mPFC inactivation in females eliminated the modified behavioral response after stress.