The FST was carried out in a transparent Plexiglas cylinder of 28.5 cm diameter and 62 cm height. In the pre-test session (forced-swimming training session; FST-1), the cylinder was filled with water (22–24 °C) up to 54 cm and rats were forced to swim for 15 min. The day after, in the forced-swimming test session (FST-2), the VE-822 chemical structure rats were filmed during a 5-min forced swimm with a digital camera (Sony DSC-W70). Floating duration was measured off-line as the sum of periods in which the rat remained virtually immobile except for the small movements necessary to keep the head above the surface. DPAG stimulation sessions were

carried out either 8 days before the end of one-way escape training (screening session) or 2 and 7 days after that. EPM, FST-1 and FST-2 sessions were carried out on the 8th, 9th and 10th days afterwards, respectively (Table 1). The latter procedures were performed at the end of experiments to avoid their influence on DPAG-evoked defensive

behaviors, which were the main focus of present study. For similar reasons, FST sessions were carried out selleck compound after the EPM sessions. At the end of experiments, rats were deeply anesthetised and intracardially perfused with the aid of a peristaltic pump (model 77120-70; Masterflex C/L, Barrington, IL, USA) with 200 ml of 0.9% NaCl followed by 200 ml of 10% formaldehyde solution. Heads were further kept in 10% formaldehyde for a minimum of 4 days for the appropriate molding of the electrode track. Thereafter, brains were removed, blocked and sectioned (60 μm) in a cryostat

(CM 1850; Leica, Wetzlar, Germany). Sections were laid down on glass slides, dried overnight (38 °C), stained with neutral red (Sigma, St Louis, MO, USA) and mounted with DPX (Aldrich Chemical Company, Milwaukee, USA). Histological analysis was carried out through low-magnification light microscopy (DM 2500 microscope coupled to a DFC 300 FX camera; Leica). Stimulation sites were plotted onto coronal diagrams from the rat brain atlas (Paxinos & Watson, 1998). Group differences in electrode localisation were assessed through Fisher’s exact test Thymidylate synthase for P < 0.05. The number of crossings and one-way escape responses, as well as the latency and number of two-way escape responses, of ES and IS rats, were compared with Student’s t-tests for independent samples. Differences were considered significant at P < 0.05. IS, ES and FS performances in EPM and FST were compared through one-way anova followed by post hoc Student’s t-tests for independent samples at Bonferroni’s 5% criterion (P < 0.02). PAG-evoked responses were examined through threshold logistic analysis (Schenberg et al., 1990; Bittencourt et al., 2004). Technically, this procedure is an extension of regression methods of binary variables usually employed in the determination of median effective dose (ED50).