Figure 1. Experimental design and brain regions of interest.
(A) Sequence of experiments during a 30 day period: Female voles were bilaterally ovariectomized before MR and behavioral protocols. After being allowed to recover from surgery for 10 days, silastic capsules containing E2B (estradiol benzoate) were implanted via s.c. 4 days before cohabitation for sexual receptivity induction. Once couples went under cohabitation, they were housed together for the rest of the experiment and were only separated for PPT and MR scanning sessions. OVX: ovariectomy surgery. MR: magnetic resonance imaging scanning session. PPT: partner preference test. (B) Regions of interest (ROIs) for network functional connectivity analyses. Antero-posterior coronal slices of the prairie vole template overlayed with ROI masks with the resolution used in the analysis. Each color represents a different ROI. ACC: anterior cingulate cortex. AON: anterior olfactory nucleus. BLA: basolateral amygdala. BNST: bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. DG: dentate gyrus. dHIP: dorsal hippocampus. MeA: medial amygdala. MOB: main olfactory bulb. LS: lateral septum. mPFC: medial prefrontal cortex. NAcc: nucleus accumbens. PVN: paraventricular nucleus. RSC: retrosplenial cortex; VP: ventral pallidum. vHIP: ventral hippocampus. VTA: ventral tegmental area. (C) 3D views of ROI masks embedded within the prairie vole template.