Fig. 3: Maternal separation increases passive coping behavior during Forced Swim Test.

A Timeline showing the timing of behavioral tests 8 weeks after maternal separation. B Representative heat maps showing activity during the elevated plus maze. C The percentage of time spent in the open arms of the elevated plus maze (No MSS (n = 21) and MSS (n = 18), unpaired t-test, t(37) = 2.098, p = 0.0428). D The total amount of distance moved in the elevated plus maze (Unpaired t-test, t(37) = 2.171, p = 0.0364). (E) Representative heat maps showing activity during the open field test. F The percentage of time spent in the center of the open field test (No MSS (n = 19) and MSS (n = 17), Unpaired t-test, t(34) = 1.861). G The total distance moved in the open field test (Mann-Whitney, U = 114). H Representative heat maps showing activity during the forced swim test. (I) The amount of time spent immobile during the forced swim test for the No MSS and MSS group (No MSS (n = 8) and MSS (n = 12), Unpaired t-test, t(18) = 5.924, ****p < 0.0001). J The average velocity during the forced swim test for the No MSS and MSS group (Unpaired t-test, t(18) = 2.760, p = 0.0129). K The amount of time spent climbing during the forced swim test for the No MSS and MSS group (Mann-Whitney, U = 20, p = 0.0296). L The number of climbing bouts during the forced swim test for the No MSS and MSS group (Unpaired t-test, t(18) = 3.041, p = 0.0070). Triangles ▼ in graphs indicate male animals; circles ● indicate female animals. Data are presented as box and whiskers plots, where the box represents the IQR, the line within the box indicates the median, and whiskers extend from the minimum to maximum values.