Figure 2
SCAR increases stress hormones and disrupts learning.
(A) Corticosterone concentrations were significantly elevated in pubescent females thirty minutes after they were exposed to the adult male when compared to concentrations in pubescent females that were paired with an adult female. (B) Concentrations were elevated two hours later in pubescent females that were paired with an adult male when compared to concentrations in pubescent females that were placed in novel context. (C) Learning the classically conditioned eyeblink response was assessed in females exposed to the adult male. Performance during trace conditioning was reduced in those females (SCAR) when compared to females that were not exposed to an adult male (No SCAR). The dotted line indicates the 60% learning criterion that was established as a measure of successful learning of the conditioned response.
