Fig. 8
Effect of Igf1r Heterozygosity on cognitive and behavioral function in male and female AD rats. The effect of the TgF344-AD genotype and igf1r status on behavior and cognitive function in male (WT n = 13; igf1r Het n = 11; AD n = 11; Het-AD n = 10) and female groups (WT n = 10; igf1r Het n = 11; AD n = 12; Het-AD n = 14) were assessed in a blinded fashion. (A–D) Initially, animals were evaluated in the Open Field for 9 min, where no differences were detected among groups for total track length or time spent in the center of the arena in either sex. (E,F) The elevated plus maze was conducted to assess anxiety-like behavior. In males, there were no significant differences among groups for percent of time spent in the open arm. Interestingly, nearly half of Het/AD rats spent the entire duration of testing in the open arm, but this was not significant among groups. (E,F) Barnes maze was conducted to assess learning and memory, In males, TgF344-AD animals appeared to make greater errors at Day 1, irrespective of igf1r genotype However, there was no evidence of significantly impaired learning (days 2–4) or retention (day 7) among groups via number of errors or latency to escape. In females, while the number of errors committed during the studies did not differ among groups, TgF344-AD females did seem to have a delayed latency to escape at day 1, though no differences were observed among groups at subsequent time points. Open field and Elevated Plus Maze data were assessed by two-way ANOVA. Barnes Maze was assessed by two-way ANOVA with repeated measures on time. Bar graphs represent mean ± S.E.M.
