Figure 3

Decreased social interaction and aggression in GSK-3α KO mice. A. Social affiliation and social novelty. Session I. Measurement of sociability. Mean length of time (± SEM) in the chamber with the stranger ("stranger side") than in the opposite chamber ("empty side"). Unlike WT males (n = 19), KO (n = 14) animals failed to demonstrate a preference for social proximity by spending same time in both chambers. ***p ≤ 0.0001 in WT group. Session II. Measurement of social novelty. Mean duration of time (± SEM) in the chamber with the unfamiliar mouse from the sociability phase ("stranger 1") and in the opposite chamber with a new unfamiliar mouse ("stranger 2"). Unlike WT males (n = 19), KO (n = 14) animals failed to demonstrate a preference for social novelty by spending same time in both chambers. ***p ≤ 0.0001 in WT group. B. Resident Intruder. GSK-3α KO mice (n = 7) and their littermate controls (n = 7) were individually isolated for four weeks and after were tested in the presence of the "intruder" in the home cage. GSK-3α KO males showed a significant decrease in the duration of fighting and aggressive grooming. The KO group showed decreased social interaction including the time spent sniffing the partner compared with WT males. The time spent by KO males in freezing behaviors and running away from the opponent was increased vs. WT. Values are mean (± SEM). **p ≤ 0.001. C. Olfactory bulb test. First, mice were habituated to a new chocolate food in the home cage overnight. The next day, rodent food pellets were removed from the cage, and the mice were food deprived for 24 hours. KO (n = 8) or WT (n = 7-9) mice were placed in the new cage, and the latency to find the hidden food was recorded. Values are mean (± SEM). p.value = n.s.