Fig. 2

Chronic hypoperfusion induces a decline in spatial long-term memory. a Representative example of spatial memory determination in the Y Maze test. During the acquisition trial, arm 2 is closed, and the mouse moves freely between arms 1 and 3. 24 h later, in the retrieval trial, arm 2 is opened. The mouse showed a strong preference for this novel arm, indicated by longer cumulative duration and more arm entries (AE). b Sham-treated mice spent significantly more time in the novel arm (n = 12; p < 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test) whereas mice subjected to BCAS spent equal times in all arms, indicating spatial memory impairment (n = 12; p > 0.05, Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Dunn’s multiple comparisons test). c-e The distance travelled and velocity of wildtype mice subjected to sham surgery or BCAS did not differ significantly. The percentage of time spent in the surround (i. e. ≤5 cm to the wall of the arena), indicative of the level of anxiety, was also similar (n = 12 for each group; Mann–Whitney test)