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. 2011 Dec 1;70(11):1024–1032. doi: 10.1016/j.biopsych.2011.08.005

Figure 3.

Figure 3

A life history of maternal separation alters the pattern of regulation of the immediate early gene Arc within the prefrontal cortex in response to adult-onset chronic immobilization stress. Shown is a schematic for the treatment paradigms (A, C). Pups from Ctl and MS groups were subjected in adulthood to either (A) sham or AIS or (C) sham or CIS as described in Methods and Materials. In situ hybridization and quantitative densitometric analysis was utilized to assess the levels of Arc messenger RNA (mRNA) in the prefrontal cortex. Shown are representative autoradiograms of Arc mRNA levels in the prefrontal cortex from Ctl, MS, AIS, and MS + AIS groups (B) and from Ctl, MS, CIS, and MS + CIS groups (D). Exposure to AIS in adulthood evoked a similar pattern of Arc mRNA regulation in both Ctl and MS animals in the prefrontal cortex (B). Ctl animals subjected to CIS in adulthood showed a habituation of the Arc mRNA regulation by stress (D). In striking contrast, MS animals showed a significant induction of prefrontal Arc mRNA levels following adult-onset CIS exposure (D). Results are expressed as percent of control and are the mean ± SEM (n = 3–5 per group). (*p < .05 compared with Ctl, $p < .01 significantly different from MS, δp < .05 significantly different from CIS; analysis of variance and Bonferroni post hoc test). Abbreviations as in Figures 1 and 2.