Figure 2.

Effects of cold exposure on acquisition performance in a task to find hidden platform in the water maze. All rats improved their ability as shown by decreasing escape latency (A) and distance moved (B) over training days. Control rats swam further away from the platform than experimental rats on the 1st and 2nd days as shown by mean distance to the platform (C). Swimming speed (D) did not change as a function of day. Measures per testing day represent the average of four trials of all animals in each group. Each symbol represents the mean ± SE of 10–12 rats. * represents significant difference between cold exposed and control male rats; • represents significant difference between exposed and control female rats. Cold-exposed male rats spent less time in seconds in the target quadrant than the control male rats. Similar retrieval performance was observed between cold-exposed and control female rats (E). Mean distance to platform in the probe trial was not affected by Treatment or Gender (F).