Figure 1. Sex differences in mood modulation by exercise.

(A) Sedentary female mice show lower anxiety in the elevated plus maze as they spent significantly more time in the open arms (n = 10 per group; ^#p < 0.05 vs males). However, in response to exercise male mice spent significantly more time in the open arm of the elevated plus maze while female mice did not show any change (*p < 0.05 vs sedentary males; n = 8 per group). (B) Resilience to stress is increased by exercise only in female mice. Exercised female mice spent more time active in the tail suspension test. (n = 5 per group; p < 0.05 vs respective control). (C) Physical arousal is increased in female mice by exercise, but not in males. Vestibular stimulation elicited increased locomotor activity only in exercised females (***p < 0.001 vs sedentary females, n = 10 for all groups).