Fig. 2: Fear conditioning data on freezing behavior.

A Freezing behavior on individual tones during fear acquisition (FA) was not altered between non-stressed (NS) and stressed (LBN) females, two-way ANOVA (p > 0.45). B The average freezing during the FA tones 2–5 was not altered between NS and LBN females (T(15) = 1.58, p = 0.14). C Freezing behavior in the FA for individual tones 1–4 was not altered between NS and LBN males (p > 0.22), but for tone 5 it was significantly lowered in LBN males (F(1,18) = 14.3, p = 0.005), with a significant main effect for the two-way ANOVA on stress (F(1,90) = 9.39, p = 0.003), tones (F(4,90) = 41.30, p < 0.0001), and stress*tones (F(4,90) = 2.6, p = 0.041). D The average freezing during FA tones 2–5 was significantly lowered in LBN males compared to NS (T(18) = 2.25, p = 0.037). E No significant main effect could be observed between NS and LBN females for the individual ITIs in the FA. F The average freezing during FA ITIs 1–4 was significantly lowered in LBN females compared to NS (T(15) = 2.37, p = 0.03). G No significant main effect could be observed between NS and LBN males for the individual ITIs in the FA. H The average freezing during FA ITIs 1–4 was not altered between NS and LBN males (T(18) = 0.84, p = 0.41). I The mean freezing in the contextual fear memory task was significantly lowered in LBN females compared to NS (T(15) = 2.61, p = 0.020), and in males (T(16) = 2.32, p = 0.034). J The mean freezing in the fear retrieval task showed no significant difference in females (T(14) = 2.09, p = 0.055). However, in males, a significant reduction in freezing was observed in LBN compared to NS (T(18) = 3.29, p = 0.004). K No significant differences were observed in the mean freezing during the ITIs between LBN and NS animals for females and males. The timelines and bar graphs are presented as mean ± standard error of the mean and all individual samples as points. Panel A–K represent female NS (n = 10, female LBN (n = 10), male NS (n = 10), male LBN (n = 11).