Fig. 2

Different behavioral dynamics between male and female mice. a Schematic representation of the experimental paradigm, combining sequential open field, social preference (SP), and social novelty preference (SNP) tests. b Plot of mean (±SEM) investigation time (measured within 20-s bins) across the SP session for male mice (n = 33). c As in b, for female mice (n = 29). Note the loss of preference after 150 s. d Mean investigation time for both stimuli during the first (left) and last (right) 2 min of the SP experiments. All categories of analysis yielded significant preference of the social stimulus (one-tailed paired t test) except for the last 2 min in females. e Mean ratio of duration of investigation (RDI) of object stimuli to social ones for all categories shown in f. All categories yielded a significant difference from zero (post hoc t test following main effects of both time and sex, MM-ANOVA), except for the last 2 min in females. f Plot of mean (±SEM) investigation time (measured within 20-s bins) across the SNP session for male mice (n = 33). g As in b, for female mice (n = 29). Note the loss of preference after 150 s. h Mean investigation time for both stimuli during the first (left) and last (right) 2 min of the SNP experiments. All categories of analysis yielded significant preference of the novel social stimulus (one-tailed paired t test) except for the last 2 min in females. i Mean ratio of duration of investigation (RDI) of familiar stimuli to novel ones for all categories shown in e. All categories yielded a significant difference from zero (post hoc t test following main effect of time, MM-ANOVA), except for the last 2 min in females. ***p < 0.001