Fig. 8: Cd exposure influenced neural behaviors of mice.

a–c Performance of mice in the open field test. a, b Cd-exposed mice traveled shorter distances in the center area and spent less time in the center area. Data of 9 offspring from 6 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t test. c Movement traces of the mice showing that Cd exposure decreased the movement in the center area. d Mice in the Cd exposure group exhibited a much longer immobility time than control mice in the tail suspension test. Data of 10 offspring from 6 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM. **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t test. e Cd-exposed mice spent less time in the open arms in the elevated plus maze. Data of 9 offspring from 6 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, two-tailed Student’s t test. f, g Results of the passive avoidance test revealed the impairment of learning and memory functions in mice after Cd exposure. Data of 10 offspring from 6 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, two-tailed Student’s t test. h–j Results of the Morris water maze test revealed the impairment of learning and memory in Cd-exposed mice. h Escape latencies on all 5 training days. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, two-way repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test. i Time spent in the target quadrant during the probe trial. *p < 0.05, two-tailed Student’s t test. j Representative searching trail of mice in the probe trial. Data of 10 offspring from 6 pregnant mice in each group are expressed as the mean ± SEM.