Response of mPFC to social defeat stress. a mRNA levels of zif268 in mPFC tissues from intruder mice decreased at days 1, 3, 7 and 15 after stimulation compared with the control mice, one way ANOVA with Tukey’s test was used, F = 99.345, **p < 0.01 compared with the control, n = 8. b mRNA levels of arc in mPFC tissues from intruder mice decreased at days 1, 3, 7 and 15 after stimulation compared with the control mice, one way ANOVA with Tukey’s test was used, F = 43.18, **p < 0.01 compared with the control, n = 8. c Representative Western blot image of c-Fos. d Statistical analysis of c-Fos expression, one way ANOVA with Tukey’s test was used, F = 11.4, *p < 0.05, compared with the control, n = 8. e The representative images of c-Fos staining in mPFC. Squares in the upper images indicate areas that are shown magnified in the bottom images. Blue arrows indicate c-fos-positive cells. f Cell counts in the mPFC, one way ANOVA with Tukey’s test was used, F = 23.965, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 compared with the control, n = 4