Fig. 6

Behavior in Classical Maze tests and Thermal Gradient Ring in 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. Maze tests were done in adult n = 12 and n = 14 mice at 16–20 weeks of age. A Behavior in open field test (OFT), elevated plus maze (EPM) and Barnes maze in ChR2-flfl (n = 12) versus Avil-ChR2 mice (n = 14). OFT box/scatter plots show the relative times spent in a virtual border zone and center zone. EPM plots show the relative times spent in open and closed arms and the transition center square. OFT and EPM are shown as percentages of the observation time, which was 10 min. Barnes maze plots show the latencies to escape in three learning and four reversal learning trials. OFT and EPM measure anxiety (border, closed) versus curiosity (center, open). The Barnes maze measures spatial learning and memory. Data were compared by 2-way ANOVA for the within subject factors “OFT zone”, “EPM arm” or “Barnes trial” and the between subject factor “genotype”. There was no difference between genotypes in OFT and EPM. For the Barnes maze, the escape latency was longer in Avil-ChR2 mice but only in the first trial (*P < 0.05). B Times spent in temperature zones of ChR2-flfl (n = 12) versus Avil-ChR2 mice (n = 14) at 16 weeks of age on a Thermal Gradient Ring (TGR) with a temperature gradient of 15–40 °C. The observation time was 60 min. Preference temperatures did not differ between groups. The right panel shows the change of the preference temperature in degrees Celsius from Q1 to Q3. Data were compared with 2-way ANOVA (left), unpaired (middle) and paired t-test (right). There was no difference between genotypes. C Behavior in a three-chamber/two-phases test of social cognition & memory (mice as in A/B). Box/scatter plots show the relative time spent in the three chambers of the box. In social cognition, one outer chamber presents a mouse, the other an object. In social memory, the outer chambers present a novel versus familiar mouse. Data were compared by 2-way ANOVA for the within subject factors “chamber” and the between subject factor “genotype”. There was no difference between genotypes. Boxes show the interquartile range, the line is the median, whiskers show minimum to maximum and the scatters represent individual mice