Fig. 8

Sex-specific modification of homing behavior in FXS mice. (A-C) FMRP deficiency has no effect on locomotor activity in male mice while in females it leads to an increase in covered distance (A), time moving (B) and average velocity (C). Among the control groups, males (+/y) move more (A) and with greater average velocity (C) than females (+/+). (D-F) homing behavior in FXS mice displayed distinct sex-related effects. Fmr1 silencing in male mice resulted in a delay in entering the nest (D) and less time spent inside (E). On the contrary, FMRP-deficient females (+/- and -/-) reached the nest more quickly (D) and spent more time inside (E) compared to their controls (+/+). In normal FMRP conditions, male mice (+/y) showed a shorter entry delay (D) and more time spent in the nest (E) than females (+/+). The number of entries into the nest did not differ among the experimental groups (F). (A–F) Data are shown as min. to max. box plots with median and 25–75 percentile. Single dots represent individual mice. Statistical analysis was done using Mann-Whitney U tests. p-values < 0.05 are indicated in the graphs. Full statistics can be found in Suppl. Table 13. Sample sizes: +/y males N = 10, -/y males N = 14, +/+ females N = 6, +/- females N = 12 and -/- females N = 7