Fig. 1

Timeline of experimental procedures. Experimental timeline begins with daily handling 1 week before (− 7) single prolonged stress (SPS) or predator exposure (PredX) and baseline acoustic startle response (ASR) testing the day before (− 1) SPS or PredX. Rats are left undisturbed for 1 week after SPS or PredX, with post-stress ASR assessed 8 days later, and dexamethasone suppression test (DST) 9 days later