Role of gonadal hormones in anxiety and fear memory formation and inhibition in male mice

► We investigated the effect of castration before puberty in young mice and during adulthood in adult mice on anxiety, fear memory and extinction. ► We observed a significant interaction of age and hormone status on anxiety measures. ► Castration significantly reduced contextual fear conditioning memory. ► An age‐dependent difference emerged in extinction, such that the young, postpubescent mice extinguished faster than the adult mice. ► The results of these studies are important for PTSD and depression research.