Fig. 8: D2R serves as a dual therapeutic target exhibiting long-lasting rescue of social deficits.

a Schematic of repetitive bilateral cannula application of a D2R antagonist (Halo) in the mPFC (every second day during P42-P49) and the experimental procedure for assessing social behaviors in Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice. b–d Representative heat maps and statistics of three-chamber social interaction in adult (3–4 months) Halo-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice as described in a. e–g Representative heat maps and statistics of the three-chamber social novelty test in adult Halo-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice. h Statistics of investigation time of adult Halo-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice in the social approach test. i Schematic of repetitive bilateral cannula application of a D2R agonist (Qp) in the mPFC (every second day during P42-P49) and the experimental procedure for assessing social behaviors in Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice. j–l Representative heat maps and statistics of three-chamber social interaction test of adult (3–4 months) Qp-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice as described in i. m–o Representative heat maps and statistics of the three-chamber social novelty test of adult Qp-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice. p Statistics of investigation time of adult Qp-treated Syt11 P0-cKO vs control mice in the social approach test. Data are shown as box-and-whisker plots, with the median represented by the central line inside each box, the 25th and 75th percentiles represented by the edges of the box, and the whiskers extending to the most extreme data points. Ordinary two-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post-hoc test (c, f, k, n) or two-tailed Mann-Whitney test (d, g, h, l, o, p), *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001, n.s. no significant difference. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.