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Figure 4 | BMC Neuroscience

Figure 4

From: Modulation of quinpirole-induced compulsive-like behavior in rats by environmental changes: Implications for OCD rituals and for exploration and navigation

Figure 4

Stay duration (means ± SEM, in minutes) in quinpirole-treated and in saline-treated rats exposed first to elastic and then to symmetrical object-setting (a) and rats exposed first to symmetrical and then to elastic object-setting (b). For each group five times (bars) are shown: the time spent in the spaces between objects (clear bar) and the time at four objects with the longest duration (dark bars; ranked from left to right in decreasing order). * indicates a significant difference between the time spent between the objects (clear bar) and the first-ranked object in each inset (the left dark bar in each inset) as revealed in a Paired t-test comparison in each test group. As shown, in both saline and quinpirole-treated rats that were exposed first to elastic and then to symmetrical setting (a), the time spent at the first-ranked object (the leftmost dark bar) was not significantly different from the time spent at the spaces between objects (clear bar). In contrast, rats that were first exposed to symmetrical and then elastic setting (b) consistently spent more time at the spaces between the objects compared with the first-ranked place (t13 = 3.5; p = 0.03 in quinpirole; t9 = 3.2; p = 0.01 in saline), indicating that these rats traveled more in the spaces between the stones rather that staying at/on some of the objects, as did rats that were tested in the large arena with four objects (elastic groups). This form of traveling in the space between objects was preserved when the number of objects was then reduced form 16 to four, but this time the difference between traveling in the spaces between objects and the first-ranked object was significant only in quinpirole-treated rats (t13 = 3.3; p = 0.01).

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