Osmotic dehydration did not influence performance in the novel object recognition task. (A) Rats treated with 2 M NaCl consumed significantly more water compared to rats treated with 0.15 M NaCl, which confirmed that the treatment induced dehydration. (B) General activity, measured by the number of grid lines crossed in the open field, did not differ between any group. (C) All groups, regardless of treatment and sex/hormone status, spent significantly more time investigating the novel object, compared to the original object. Abbreviations: males (M), diestrous 2 females (D2), estrous females (E). Hashed bars denote the treatment groups. +Greater than control, p < 0.001. *Greater than time investigating original object, p < 0.001.