Figure 1.
(upper Figure) Effect of BNST treatment with the selective α1‐adrenoceptor antagonist WB4101 (WB) and/or the NO donor NOC‐9 on cardiovascular responses to acute restraint stress. Time course curves of change on MAP (ΔMAP), HR (ΔHR) and tail skin temperature (Δ tail temperature) evoked by acute restraint stress in animals treated bilaterally into the BNST with either Veh + Veh (n = 9), WB + Veh (n = 8), Veh + NOC‐9 (n = 9) or WB + NOC‐9 (n = 8). Shaded area indicates the period of restraint. Data shown are means ± SEM. # P < 0.05, significantly different from the Veh + Veh group, over the whole restraint period; two‐way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test. (lower Figure) Diagrammatic representation based on the rat brain atlas of Paxinos and Watson (1997) indicating the microinjection sites into the BNST of the groups Veh + Veh, WB + Veh, Veh + NOC‐9 and WB + NOC‐9. 3V, third ventricle; ac, anterior commissure; f, fornix; IA, interaural coordinate; ic, internal capsule; st, stria terminalis.