Fig. 4

Nociceptive and motor function behavior in early and late adult life of ELP mice. ChR2-flfl and Avil-ChR2 mice were exposed to blue light in a chamber on postnatal day P1-P5 together with the Cre-negative blue-insensitive mother. Behavior was observed in adult female mice. A Nociceptive paw withdrawal latencies (PWL) of young adult 8–12 weeks old ChR2-flfl (n = 12) and Avil-ChR2 mice (n = 14) on heat stimulation (Hargreaves, Hotplate), mechanical stimulation (dynamic plantar test), cold stimulation (Coldplate) and heat evoked tail flick latency. Latencies were compared by unpaired, 2-tailed t-test, *P < 0.05; ***P < 0.001; ****P < 0.0001. B Nociceptive PWL of aged (38–40 wks) ChR2-flfl (n = 15) and Avil-ChR2 mice (n = 16). Stimulations and statistics as in A. C Balance beam performance at 15 weeks of age with decreasing beam diameters (32 mm, 24 mm, 16 mm). On test start mice were placed at the tip facing the open end. “Turning” is the time needed to turn around to face the home box. “Transition” is the time needed to return to the box. Data were compared by 2-way ANOVA for the within subject factor beam diameter and the between subject factor genotype. No difference between genotypes.D Running times (fall off latencies) on an accelerating rotarod in young adult (15 wks) and aged (40 wks) ChR2-flfl and Avil-ChR2 mice. Running times were compared via unpaired, 2-tailed t-test. No difference between genotypes.E 24 h-voluntary wheel running (VWR) distances of aged ChR2-flfl and Avil-ChR2 mice at 50 weeks of age in Phenomaster cages. Running distances were compared via unpaired, 2-tailed t-test; *P < 0.05. The boxes show the interquartile range, the line is the median, whiskers show minimum to maximum and scatters are individual mice