Skip to main content
Fig. 3 | Biology of Sex Differences

Fig. 3

From: Menopause causes metabolic and cognitive impairments in a chronic cerebral hypoperfusion model of vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia

Fig. 3

Post-menopausal VCID caused a wider array of cognitive deficits than VCID alone. General activity levels were gauged using the total distance traveled in the open field test (A). Anxiety-like behavior was measured as the % of the time that the animal spent in the center of the testing arena during the open field test (more time in the center = less anxiety-like behavior) (B). Episodic-like memory was assessed in the novel object recognition test (NORT) (C). Recognition index (% time spent with the novel object) was calculated. Performance not significantly greater than chance (red line = 50%) indicates impaired memory. Spatial memory was assessed in the probe trial of the Barnes maze (D), as % time spent in the target quadrant vs. chance. Performance not significantly greater than chance (red line = 25%) indicates impaired memory. The nest building task was used to assess activities of daily living (E). Nests were graded on 1–5 scale (average of scores by 3 experimenters blinded to treatment). Lower scores are indicative of impairment. Data are presented as mean + SEM, +p < 0.05, ++p < 0.01, +++p < 0.001, ++++p < 0.0001 t-test vs chance, and *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, 2-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparison test (n = 8–13/group)

Back to article page