Figure 3. Temporary inactivation of the BNST does not prevent conditioned fear expression to a forward CS paired with a US of fixed or variable intensity.
(A) Behavioral schematic. (B) Freezing behavior during conditioning and retrieval testing. For conditioning, the left panel depicts mean percentage freezing during the 5 min baseline (BL) and across each conditioning block (each 136 s block is comprised of two trials; trials consist of freezing during the 10 s CS followed by the 58 s post-shock interval). For retrieval testing, the center panel shows mean percentage freezing at the 5 min baseline (BL) and across each test block (each 140 s block is comprised of two trials; trials consist of freezing during the 10 s CS followed by the 60 s interval). The right panel shows mean percentage freezing across all test trials (after BL; corresponding to 840 s of behavior). (C) Freezing percentages across all twelve trials, with BL levels of freezing subtracted from these values. All data are represented as means ± s.e.m [FIXED-VEH (n = 7); FIXED-MUS (n = 8); VARIABLE-VEH (n = 7); VARIABLE-MUS (n = 8)].
Figure 3—figure supplement 1. Bilateral cannula placements for BNST microinfusions.
