Fig. 3.

Open Field, Novel Object tests and corticosterone reactivity to circular corridor for adult and adolescent CTRL and STRESS rats. Adult STRESS rats spent less time in the central area of the Open field test (A) but no differences in general locomotor activity were observed (B). Moreover, self-grooming levels observed in the open field were also higher in STRESS animals (C). Regarding exploration, STRESS animals tended to explore more the object in the novel object test (D). None of these differences were observed in adolescence (E, F, H) except for the increase of grooming levels during open field exposure (G). CORT response was also examined upon exposure to a novel environment (i.e. circular corridor) in either CTRL or STRESS rats in adulthood. I. STRESS rats exhibited lower CORT response upon exposure to a novel environment (i.e. circular corridor) compared to CTRL animals. Temporal corticosterone dynamics are presented in the left, and AUC is shown in the right.J. The same tendency was observed in adolescence; however, it did not reach statistical significance. K. Correlation matrix between the adaptation index after peripubertal stress considering peak (t0) or recovery times (r60) and main behavioral and endocrine measurements. Animals that adapted the less during the recovery to peripubertal stress were the more impaired in the novel object test and with a more marked blunted CORT response to stress during adulthood. Results are expressed as the mean ± S.E.M. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, #p < 0.10.