A, Example of missed injection. mCherry fluorescence is not seen in the supraoptic nucleus (SON) as the viral injection did not include the SON. B, Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) RNA from the SONs of rats with injections that did not include the SON. Groups: euhydrated rats injected with scrambled (SCR) virus (Eu SCR, n = 4); euhydrated rats injected with shBDNF virus (Eu shBDNF, n = 5); salt loaded rats injected with SCR virus (Salt SCR, n = 4) and salt loaded rats injected with shBDNF virus (Salt shBDNF, n = 3). Data are the mean ± SEM.*P < 0.05 vs Eu groups. OT, optic tract