Figure 4.

Alcohol dependence induces corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) responsivity of GABAergic synapses in female central amygdala (CeA). (A,B) Representative GABA_A-mediated sIPSCs from CeA neurons of dependent male (A) and female (B) rats at baseline (left) and during acute application of 100 nM CRF (right, upper) or 400 nM CRF (right, lower). (C–F) Alcohol-dependent male and female sIPSC responses to varied CRF Concentrations. There is a main effect of CRF Concentration on sIPSC frequency (C), but no main effect of Sex and no interaction effect. There was no main effect of Sex or CRF Concentration and no interaction effect on sIPSC amplitude (D), rise time (E), or decay time (F). Changes from baseline sIPSC properties were assessed using one-sample t-tests where # denotes p < 0.05, ## denotes p < 0.01 and ### denotes p < 0.001. Differences between male and female sIPSC properties in response to CRF Concentrations were assessed using two-way ANOVA test with a post-hoc Šídák’s correction for multiple comparisons where ** denotes p < 0.01. Bars represent Mean ± SEM; 200 nM responses are the same as in Figure 2; n = 8–11 neurons per group; N = 3–8 rats per group.