Fig. 4.

Composite anxiety-like behavior score. When anxiety-like behavior was expressed as a composite of the results of social interaction and elevated plus-maze tests, with increasing values reflecting increasing anxiety-like behavior (as described in Results), rats that had been stressed at the start of the first two alcohol deprivations exhibited robust increases (P< 0.01) in anxiety-like behavior in the subsequent (final) deprivation when compared with Control rats and with rats that had received constant access to alcohol, as well as more modest increases (P= 0.05) when compared with rats that had received alcohol deprivations without added stresses. This [deprivation + stress] induced increase in the composite index of anxiety-like behavior was suppressed by treatment with prazosin 1 mg/kg and prazosin 1.5 mg/kg (P < 0.01 and P < 0.001, respectively) before each of the stresses in the first two deprivations, compared with the [deprivation + stress + vehicle] rats. Each bar represents the mean + SEM of 6–7 rats/group.