Figure 1.

Neonatal maternal separation (NMS) increases carotid sinus nerve (CSN) response to hypoxia in male rats. (A) Original recordings comparing CSN activity from ex vivo preparations of perfused carotid body/CSN from control and NMS males under hyperoxia (FiO₂ = 0.95), hypoxia (FiO₂ = 0.0) and hyperoxic after hypoxia (recovery). (B) Comparison of the mean carotid sinus nerve activity (imp/sec) over the course of the hypoxic protocol between carotid bodies from control (open squares; n = 8) and NMS rats (black squares; n = 8). Hypoxia begins at T = 0 and is maintained until T = 500 s (end of plateau phase), followed by hyperoxic recovery; each data point represents the mean value on a second by second basis. (C) Histograms comparing mean CSN activity for each specific experimental condition between control (white bars; n = 8) and NMS (black bars; n = 8) male rats. Data are reported as means ± SD. ^*indicates a value statistically different from control at p ≤ 0.05.