Fig. 7. A history of voluntary binge alcohol drinking induces a female-like phenotype in male PVT-BNSTCRF synapses.
a–b Power-response curves for optically-evoked EPSCs (oEPSCs, a) and IPSCs (oIPSCs, b) in response to optical stimulation of ChR2 from PVT axon terminals. N’s = 4 EtOH M, 12 cells and 3 EtOH F, 8 cells. Data in a and b are presented as mean values + SEM. Means for CON cell data in Fig. 3 are represented in this figure by blue and red lines for CON M and F, respectively. a 3xRM-ANOVA on oEPSCs: main effect of power (F5,175 = 86.4, P < 0.0001, not indicated) and a trend for an EtOH × power interaction (F5,175 = 2.25, P = 0.052), but no other effects or interactions (Ps > 0.15). b 3xRM-ANOVA on oIPSCs: main effect of power (F5,175 = 103.4, P < 0.0001, not indicated) and a sex × EtOH interaction (F1,35 = 4.71, *P = 0.037), but no other effects or interactions (Ps > 0.05). c oEPSC/oIPSC ratio in BNSTCRF neurons of EtOH mice. Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. EtOH M have E/I ratios below 1 (one-sample t-test: t13 = 3.18, ##P = 0.007), which does not differ from that of CON M (two-tailed unpaired t-test: t23 = 1.01, P = 0.321). EtOH F does not have an E/I ratio below 1.0 (one-sample t-test: t6 = 1.71, P = 0.137), however, this ratio does not significantly differ from CON F (two-tailed unpaired t-test: t20 = 1.84, P = 0.081).