Fig. 2

Deletion of Oxtr in CA2 excitatory neurons leads to impaired persistence long-term SRM. A Schematic representation of the experimental design. B Top, schematic representation of the three-chamber sociability test. Bottom left, time spent by the subject mouse in sniffing directed at a wire cage containing the juvenile stimulus mouse or an empty wire cage. Both WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice spent significantly more time interacting with the wire cage containing the juvenile stimulus mouse than the empty wire cage. Bottom right, discrimination index (stimulus minus empty) was similar between WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice in the sociability test. C Top, schematic representation of the three-chamber social novelty preference test. Bottom left, time spent by the subject mouse in sniffing directed at the wire cage containing a familiar mouse or a novel 1 mouse, 10 min after the sociability test. Both WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice spent significantly more time sniffing the cage containing the novel mouse than the familiar mouse. Bottom right, discrimination index (novel 1 minus familiar) was comparable between WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice in the social novelty preference test. D Top, schematic representation of the three-chamber long-term SRM test. Bottom left, time spent by the subject mouse in sniffing directed at the wire cage containing a familiar mouse or a novel 2 mouse, 1 day after the initial interaction. Both WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice spent significantly more time sniffing the cage containing the novel mouse than the familiar mouse. Bottom right, discrimination index (novel 2 minus familiar) was similar between WT and Oxtr^−/− subject mice in 1-day long-term SRM test. E Top, schematic representation of the three-chamber long-term SRM test. Bottom, time spent by the subject mouse in sniffing directed at the wire cage containing a familiar mouse or a novel 2 mouse, 7 days after the initial interaction. WT, but not Oxtr^−/−, subject mice spent significantly more time sniffing the cage containing the novel mouse than the familiar mouse. Bottom right, discrimination index (novel 2 minus familiar) of Oxtr^−/− subject mice was significantly less than WT subject mice in 7-day long-term SRM test. 1-day and 7-day long-term SRM tests were performed on independent groups. The total number of animal examined is indicated by n in parenthesis. Error bars represent the SEM; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001