Fig. 1: A paradigm to measure long-term threat avoidance (LTTA).

A Schematic representation of LTTA paradigm. B Representative location paths of control male mice during the Pre-exposure (Pre-loom), Exposure and Test phases of the LTTA paradigm at 0, 6.6, and 36.5% Michelson contrasts. C Freezing time at 0 (n = 15 mice), 6.6 (n = 14 mice) and 36.5% (n = 8 mice) Michelson contrast during the Exposure phase of the LTTA paradigm in control male mice (0 vs. 6.6%, P = 0.999; 0 vs. 37.5%, P = 0.0001; 6.6 vs. 37.5%, P = 0.0001). D Time in threat zone (TZ) at 0 (n = 15 mice), 6.6 (n = 14 mice) and 36.5% (n = 8 mice) Michelson contrast during the Test phase normalized to time in TZ during the Pre-exposure phase in control male mice (0 vs. 6.6%, P = 0.003; 0 vs. 37.5%, P = 0.0001; 6.6 vs. 37.5%, P = 0.144). E Behavioral paradigm to test the role of light on LTTA (top) and representative animal position traces during the Test phase of the LTTA paradigm at 0 and 40 lux of control male mice (bottom). F Time in TZ during the Test phase normalized to time in TZ during the Pre-exposure phase at 0 (n = 6 mice), 10 (n = 6 mice) and 40 (n = 6 mice) lux in control male mice (0 vs. 10 lux, P = 0.232; 0 vs. 40 lux, P = 0.006; 10 vs. 40 lux, P = 0.161). G Behavioral paradigm to test anxiety in looming-exposed mice. H Time in open arms (left) (P = 0.964) and total distance (right) (P = 0.170) in the Elevated Zero Maze (EZM) assay of control male mice previously exposed to 0 (n = 7) or 6.6% (n = 6) looming stimulus. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. All data are Mean ± SEM, n.s. (not significant) P > 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001. Two-sided Student t- and one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test.