Figure 3.

Blockade of GABAA receptors in the ventral hippocampus prevents the anxiolytic response of long-term running. These mice ran or were sedentary for 3 weeks and were subjected to direct bilateral infusions of the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline or vehicle into the ventral or dorsal hippocampus before testing on the elevated plus maze. A, Bicuculline in the ventral hippocampus prevented increased time in open arms of the elevated plus maze in runners. B, No difference was observed in the number of open + closed arm entries among groups, indicating that overall locomotion was likely unaffected. C, Bicuculline in the dorsal hippocampus had no effect on time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze in runners compared with vehicle infusion. D, No difference was observed in open + closed arm entries among groups indicating that overall locomotion was likely unaffected. *p < 0.05 compared with sedentary mice. Error bars represent SEM. Run+Bic, Runner mice with bicuculline infusions. Atlas sections show representative infusion areas in the ventral hippocampus (left) and dorsal hippocampus (right).