Fig. 1

Experimental design and behavioral tests. (A) Male C57BL/6J mice were randomly divided into two groups: control (n = 7 mice) and experimental (n = 7 mice). Mice from the experimental group were subjected to the foot shock procedure as described in the Materials and Methods. The aversive context test was performed twice: the day after the stress procedure (day 2) and seven days after stress exposure (day 7). The open field test was conducted on day 9 of the experiment. The elevated plus maze test (EPM) was performed on day 11 of the experiment. (B) Number of freezing events in the aversive context on day 2 after stress exposure, (C) number of freezing events in the aversive context on day 1 after stress exposure, (D) time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze, (E) average speed of mice in the open field, (F) time spent in the central squares of the open field, and (G) number of fecal boli per mice in the open field. Data are presented as mean ± SEM, n = 6–7. Significant differences (*p < 0.05) between the control and experimental groups were determined using an unpaired Student’s t-test