Figure 4.

Neonatal maternal separation (NMS) does not alter the hypercapnic carotid sinus nerve (CSN) response to hypercapnia in female rats. (A) Original recordings comparing CSN activity from ex vivo preparations of perfused carotid body/CSN from control and NMS females under hyperoxia (FiO₂ = 0.95), hypercapnia (FiCO₂ = 0.30) and hyperoxia after hypoxia (recovery). (B) Comparison of the mean carotid sinus nerve activity (imp/sec) over the course of the hypercapnic protocol between carotid bodies from control (open squares; n = 4) and NMS rats (black squares; n = 4). Hypercapnia 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 = 4) and NMS (black bars; n = 4) female rats. Data are reported as means ± SD.