Figure 2

Experiment #1: Meal duration in male and female rats after masseter tendon ligation. Sham rats were given anesthetic and the tendon was exposed but no ligature was placed and ligature rats had a tight ligature tied around the tendon of the masseter muscle. In panel A the ligature was randomly placed on one side or both sides of a male rat’s masseter tendon to determine a dose response to the surgical treatment and then meal duration was measured. A non-ligatured control group was also included (i.e., sham). In panel B, meal duration was measured for female rats with bilateral ligatures. Meal duration values are given for four days before ligature (−4, −3, −2, −1) and for 10 days after ligature (1, 2, 3, 4, etc.). Body weight (panel C) was measured daily for the male and female rats. Values are the means ± SEM. Significant differences between the ligature groups and their respective sham groups are indicated by * = p < 0.05. See Table 2 for the number of animals per group.