Fig. 7: Cd exposure caused abnormal neural Ca²⁺ activity in the cortex.

a Schematic of the experimental protocol. b Location of the AAV-transfected region in the cortex. c Immunostaining images of GCaMP6s and NeuN. Top, average (purple) trace of neural Ca²⁺ transients in the auditory cortices of control mice at the onset of 4913 Hz (d), 8944 Hz (e), and 16284 Hz (f) pure tones (black bar). The average trace was from 28 trials from four mice. The shaded area represented SEM. Bottom, color-coded intensities of neural Ca²⁺ transients in the cortex from different trials. Data of 4 offspring from 4 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM. The circles in the graph represent individual trials quantified. g–i Average trace of neural Ca²⁺ transients and color-coded intensities in the cortex in Cd-exposed mice. Data from 27 trials from four mice. j The latencies of Ca²⁺ transients in response to 4913 Hz, 8944 Hz, and 16284 Hz pure tones. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. k The half-widths of Ca²⁺ transients. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. 8944 Hz, *p < 0.05. I Amplitudes of the half-widths of Ca²⁺ transients. Two-sided Wilcoxon rank-sum test. 4913 Hz, **p < 0.01; 16284 Hz, *p < 0.05.