Fig. 5

Depletion of astrocytes impairs contextual memory performance. a Experimental timeline, in which iDTR mice are first injected with intravenous CAV2-Cre to induce iDTR expression in targeted cells, then treated with intraperitoneal DT to deplete DTR+ cells, with behavioral tests taking place over the subsequent two days. b Plot of total distance covered during a 5-min recording session in a 1 m³ open field. Two-tailed unpaired t-test P = 0.783. c Contexual fear memory paradigm, in which mice are first exposed to a novel context A, paired with a footshock, then re-exposed to the same context A the following morning without a footshock, followed by a novel context B in the afternoon without a footshock. d Plot of freezing (percentage of total time in behavior chamber) in naive animals in context A on day 24, during recall in context A on day 25, and during discrimination in context B on day 25. Naive: Saline vs. DT, two-tailed unpaired t-test P = 0.168. Recall & Discrimination: Two-way ANOVA F(2,8) = 3.494, P = 0.081. Test of between-subjects effects, Recall: F(1,9) = 6.467, P = 0.032; Discrimination: F(1,9) = 0.033, P = 0.860. Data are plotted as mean +/− SEM. * indicates P < 0.05, ** indicates P < 0.01. n = 5–6 animals per condition