Fig. 2

Schematic representation of the experimental design. Prior to testing, all mice were tail-tattooed and habituated to the experimenters. After being assigned to two behaviorally comparable groups, they underwent survival surgery and an identical sequence of tests. The behavioral battery was designed to evolve from less towards more strenuous tasks to mitigate residual stress effects on subsequent tests. Abbreviations: T – Tattooing; H – Habituation; INBEST – Integrated Behavioral Station; SAB – Spontaneous Alternation Behavior; SDT – Step-Down Test; NO – Novel Object Test; FST – Forced Swim Test; OF – Open Field Test; MWM – Morris Water Maze; OS – Olfactory Sensitivity; OM – Olfactory Memory; OD – Olfactory Discrimination; BW – Beam-Walking test; RR – Rotarod