Representation of EEG frequencies in REM and NREM sleep.

<p>Here is represented the power density (see <a href="http://www.plosgenetics.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pgen.1002706#s4" target="_blank">Methods</a>) for all frequencies in all 4-seconds REM (blue line) and NREM (red line) sleep epochs during a 48-hour baseline.</p

Fear conditioning performance.

<p>(a) Representation of the FC protocol over three days and three different experimental phases (Conditioning, Context and Cue). (b) Mean percentage values of freezing behavior ± s.e.m. are plotted for each experimental phase. Statistics are reported as following: <i>t</i>-test; * = <i>P</i><0.05.</p

Exon 1A deletion: <i>Gnas</i> expression and body temperature.

<p>(a) Representation of <i>Gnas</i> expression when the <i>Exon1A-DMR</i> (Ex1A-DMR) is methylated on the maternal (M) allele in +/+ and +/<i>Ex1a</i> or deleted on the paternal (P) allele in +/<i>Ex1a</i> mice. (b) Expression levels, by q-PCR measurements, in BAT tissue of <i>Gnas</i> (left panel) and <i>Ucp1</i> (right panel) mRNA in <i>+/+</i> versus mutant <i>+/Ex1a</i> mice. (c) Grand-averages and shadowed ± s.e.m. of body temperature over a 24-hour period for +/+ and +/<i>Ex1a</i> mice. Statistics are reported as following: <i>t</i>-test; ** = <i>P</i><0.01.</p

Behavioral consequences of chronic psychosocial social stress in mice.

<p>A) Aggressive behavior assessed on days 1 to 4, 10 and 20 of the stress phase. Graph clearly shows how dominants (Dom) and subordinates (Sub) are non-overlapping behavioral categories. B) Locomotor activity measured during baseline (4 days) and the stress phase (20 days). Dom showed increased and Sub showed decreased locomotor activity (F(1,18) = 21.9, p<0.01). C) Locomotor activity measured before and after the daily agonistic interaction. Dom showed increased activity both before and after the agonistic interaction while Sub showed increased activity before but not after the agonistic interaction (F(1,18) = 4.1, p = 0.054). * p<0.05 and ** p<0.001 vs. basal, # p<0.05 vs. Dom.</p

Effect of chronic stress on the histology of the perigonadal adipose tissue.

<p>A) Representative sections of perigonadal adipose tissue from individually housed (Ind), Control (Con), subordinate (Sub) and dominant (Dom) mice. B) Dom mice showed a significant smaller mean adipocytes diameter when compared to Con (U_10,10 = 17, p<0.016), while all other groups remained unaffected. C) Categorized distribution of individual adipocytes diameters (see text for statistical details).</p

Sympathetic system related parameters in mice adipose tissue.

<p>A) Perigonadal adipose tissue tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) enzymatic activity assay revealed a small but not significant increase in the dominant (Dom) mice. B) Dom mice showed a higher perigonadal norepinephrine (NE) concentration than Controls (Con) (F(3,21) = 6.0, p<0.01). *p<0.05.</p

Overview of the metabolic effects induced by chronic psychosocial stress and individual housing.

<p>The graph shows variation (versus the mean value of the control group-housed mice) for body weight changes, food intake and total visceral adipose fat mass weight, under standard or high fat diet. Individual housing (Ind) determined negative or positive energy balance depending on the diet being standard or high fat diet respectively. Dominance (Dom) determined a similar negative energy balance with both standard and high fat diet. Subordination (Sub) determined similar positive energy balance with both diets. However, body weight gain and feeding were similarly affected under standard and high fat diets while visceral fat pad mass increased with high fat diet only.</p

Hormonal consequences of social stress in mice.

<p>Basal plasma corticosterone collected in the early light phase, was increased in subordinates (Sub, U_9,13 = 23, p<0.016), dominants (Dom, U_9,12 = 12, p<0.016) and individually housed (Ind, U_9,5 = 3, p<0.005) mice when compared to Controls (Con). * p<0.016.</p

Metabolic consequences of social stress in mice.

<p>A) Body weight changes in the baseline and in the stress phase. At baseline, all experimental groups showed a trend for a lower body weight gain than controls (Con) (F(3,39) = 2.6, p = 0.06). In the stress phase, subordinates (Sub) showed a larger body weight gain when compared to all other groups, which were not different from each other (F(3,38) = 4.6, p<0.01). Figure describes only post hoc comparisons to controls, * p<0.05; § p = 0.06. B) Body weight changes from baseline in Con and individually housed (Ind) mice starting from the first day of baseline. Ind showed a lower growth curve when compared to Con over the whole testing phase (F(1,15) = 6.3, p<0.05. * p<0.05. C) Food intake. Sub and dominants (Dom) mice under stress where hyperphagic when compared to baseline, Con and Ind mice (treatment, F(3,33) = 7.4, p<0.001; treatment x weeks F(9,99) = 3.8, p<0.001). In addition, Ind mice showed an overall lower level of kcal ingested when compared to controls. D) Visceral fat pads weight. Dom showed a smaller perigonadal (F(3,37 = 3.2, p<0.05), perirenal (F(3,37 = 3.2, p<0.05) and a trend for lower retroperitoneal (F(3,37 = 1.7, p = 0.1) pad weight than Con. * p<0.05, §p<0.07 vs. Con. E) Cumulative weight of visceral fat mass. Dom showed a reduction of visceral fat when compared to Con (F(3,37) = 2.3, p<0.1). * p<0.05 vs. Con.</p