Fig. 1: Schematic illustration of experimental timeline.

A Behavioral testing commenced throughout the chronic stress procedure in the following order: over-night home-cage behavior (CSDS day 8), 1st Female Urine Sniffing Test (CSDS day 12), social interaction task (CSDS day 15), elevated plus maze, (CSDS day 17), 2nd Female Urine Sniffing Test (CSDS day 19). Unstressed controls were tested at the corresponding time points. All animals were sacrificed one day after the last day CSDS in the morning. Brains, blood, and adrenals were extracted for subsequent analyses.