Fig. 1

Social defeat (SD) stress induced social avoidance and anxiety-like behaviors. a Schematic representation of the protocols of SD and behavioral tests; b-d SD stress induced social avoidance in the social interaction test (SIT). Either susceptible individuals or the total pool (susceptible + resilient), the time in the social interaction zone (b) and the social interaction ratio (c) was lower than controls; d is the representative trajectories of a control and a susceptible mice in the social interaction test. e-g In the open field test (OFT), SD stress decreases central-zone distance (e) and time (f) in both susceptible and resilient mice; g is the representative trajectories in the OFT; h-j In the elevated plus maze (EPM) test, SD stress decreased percentages of open-arm entries (h) and time (i) in both susceptible and resilient mice. j is the representative trajectories in elevated plus maze. k SD stress did not influence motor coordination in a rotarod test. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 verse control.