Figure 2.

Short-term episodic memory is altered in CORT-treated mice in the novel object recognition test. Schematic diagram of the NORT experimental time course (A). Mice were exposed to 2 identical objects during 4 sessions (5 min each) with an intertrial interval (ITI) of 3 min. During the 5thexposure, one familiar object (F) was removed and replaced with a novel object (N) different in shape, color, and texture. Exploration time (B) and exploration frequency (C) of the novel and the familiar objects were measured during the test session. The exploration time was also expressed in percent of both novel object and familiar object (D). The red line indicates the chance level. Discrimination index (E) of each animal was calculated (see Materials and Methods). Values are mean ± s.e.m., n = 20 animals per group ^**p < 0.01 vs. vehicle group. ^#p < 0.05; ^##p < 0.01 vs. novel object of the group.