Behavioral responses to intra-bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) priming. (A) Baseline (Day 0) and post-priming (Day 7) anxiety-like behavior of adult, male rats that received daily bilateral intra-BNST microinjections of vehicle (Veh, n = 12/11, open bars) or urocortin 1 (Ucn1, n = 12/11, black bars), as measured in the social interaction (SI) test. Shown is the mean SI time (s, seconds) + SEM. p** < 0.01 versus vehicle controls; p## < 0.01 versus baseline SI time on Day 0. (B) Correlation of SI time on Day 7 and tph2 mRNA expression in the caudal core of the dorsal raphe nucleus, dorsal part (cDRD core) of vehicle- (open circles) or Ucn1-(closed circles) primed rats.