Fig. 5

CSF flow increases with testosterone treatment. A Representative image of a rat after injection of IRDye 800CW carboxylate dye (superimposed pseudo-color). The square placed in line with lambda indicates the area of dye content quantification, as illustrated in the representative images obtained at t = 0 min and t = 3 min in control rats. B The dye intensity normalized to that obtained in the first image and plotted as a function of time representing flow rate, n = 4–5. C Quantification of the dye intensity (flow rate) determined from linear regression in B over the 3 min time window (with one outlier removed from the testosterone group) in arbitrary units (a.u.). D The CSF flow rate as a function of bodyweight did not display significant correlation with bodyweight in control and testosterone-treated rats (n = 9, R² = 0.27, p = 0.16). E Percentage brain water in control and testosterone-treated rats (n = 5 of each). F The brain weight relative to the bodyweight of control and testosterone-treated rats (n = 5 of each). Statistical significance evaluated with Student’s unpaired t-test and results shown as mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, ns = not significant