Figure 8.

The effects of IMO stress and social buffering on anxiety-like behaviors and brain OT activity in female prairie voles. Subjects experience 1-h IMO stress, recover alone (alone) or with the male partner (partner) for 30 min, and receive a 5-min EPM test. (A) Females that recover alone (alone) enter the open arms less frequently and spend less time there in the EPM test, compared to handled females (control) and females recovering with a partner (partner). (B) Data from in vivo brain microdialysis show that OT release in the PVN increases during IMO stress, and this increased OT release is sustained during the recovery if the subject recovers with a partner but not alone. (C and D) Intra-PVN injections of an OTRA in the subjects recovering with the partner block social buffering effects on anxiety-like behaviors and plasma CORT. Conversely, OT injections into the PVN of the subjects recovering alone mimic the effects of a partner by reducing anxiety like behaviors and circulating levels of CORT (D). Data are shown as mean ± SEM. ^*P < 0.05. Alphabetic letters indicate the results from a post-hoc test following an ANOVA. Bars labeled with different letters differ significantly from each other. Data adapted, with permission, from (248).