Figure 6
TEN attenuates anticipatory and event-related changes in GSC during classical fear-conditioning.
(a) Representative raw GSC traces obtained from a subjects treated with sham or TEN during the experimental paradigm designed to induce acute stress (Fig. 2e). The onset of the classical fear-conditioning paradigm (fear onset), delivery of unconditioned stimuli (US; electrical shocks; blue) and onset of the time-pressured cognitive battery are marked. Note differences in the amplitude of event-related GSC changes (ΔGSC; see Methods) between the treatment groups illustrate TEN-mediated reduction in sympathetic drive. (b) The line plot illustrates a different GSC profile obtained from a subject treated with TEN during the fear-conditioning component of the stress trial. As also shown in panel a, all subjects exhibited the same type of response where there was a sharp anticipatory increase in GSC (ΔGSCfear) at the onset of the fear-conditioning component of the stress trial before the delivery of the first US. All subjects also exhibited transient GSC increases (ΔGSCshock) in response to the delivery of each US as illustrated. For clarity, the area marked by the shaded rectangular box is shown at a higher temporal resolution and amplitude scale (inset). (c) The histograms illustrate the average ΔGSC for the TEN and sham treatment groups obtained during the fear-conditioning phase of the stress trial. An asterisk indicates a significant difference with P < 0.05. All data shown are mean ± SD.
