Assessing the effects of NE deficiency on neuronal activity in the locus coeruleus (LC) and forebrain target regions following exposure to a novel environment. a Quantification of c-fos+ neurons in Dbh −/− mice in the LC and forebrain targets after NSF (darker purple) and NIL (lighter purple), expressed as a percentage of the average number of c-fos+ cells in Dbh +/− controls for each behavioral test and region. There were no significant differences between genotypes in the LC, dorsal hippocampal subfields CA1 (dCA1), CA3 (dCA3), and dentate gyrus (dDG), prelimbic cortex (PrL), infralimbic cortex (IL), or the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT). b Representative micrographs showing similar levels of c-fos (green) induction between Dbh genotypes after NSF in NET+ (red) LC neurons. Nuclei are counterstained with DAPI (blue). c
Dbh genotype does not affect the number of c-fos+ cells observed following NSF in dorsal hippocampal subregions. Error bars denote group mean ± SEM. The scale bar denotes 100 μM in all micrographs.