Fig. 1

Maternal zinc supplementation prevents deficits in sociability and social novelty recognition in Shank3^−/− offspring mice. Three chamber social interaction test performed in wildtype and Shank3^−/− offspring mice born from mothers on control and supplemented zinc diet. a At 3 weeks of age, and b at 16 weeks of age, wildtype mice from both maternal zinc diet groups show significantly increased interaction with the stranger mice (n = 8 in each group). Shank3^−/− offspring mice born from mothers on the normal zinc diet show no preference for the stranger mice (n = 7). Maternal zinc supplementation results in Shank3^−/− mice displaying normal sociability behaviour (n = 7). c At 3 weeks and d at 16 weeks, wildtype mice from both maternal zinc diet groups spend significantly more time in close interaction with the novel mouse than the familiar mouse (n = 8 in each group). Shank3^−/− offspring mice born from mothers on the normal zinc diet show no preference for the novel mice (n = 7). Maternal zinc supplementation results in Shank3^−/− offspring mice displaying normal social novelty behaviour (n = 7). All data represent mean ± standard error of the mean, analysed using two-tailed paired t-tests. Each point represents individual mice in each experimental group. NS = not significant, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001