Fig. 1

Cumulative mild stress in early life led to more severe anxiety- and depression-like behavior in young adults aged. a Experimental scheme included cumulative mild stress and behavior tests to evaluate the CPMS mice model. The mice fetuses were indirectly exposed to unpredictable mild stress (E3–18) through their dams and litters were directly exposed to mild maternal separation (P1–14) and mild social defeat stress (P28–37). b The table displayed each group exposed to mild stress. Following induction of stress, c EPM (CTL (n = 12); 63.75 ± 3.512, CPMS (n = 9); 90.89 ± 2.201, S (n = 8); 87.00 ± 3.333, PS (n = 8); 87.25 ± 4.178, MS (n = 7); 83.14 ± 2.650), d FST (CTL; 107.8 ± 15.06, CPMS; 216.4 ± 16.36, S; 130.0 ± 18.20, PS; 236.0 ± 14.89, MS; 231.7 ± 33.10), and e SPT (CTL; 89.91 ± 2.337, CPMS; 66.70 ± 4.549, S; 73.66 ± 9.951, PS; 80.63 ± 2.903, MS; 74.71 ± 4.460) were performed in 8-week-old mice. After the behavior tests, 9-week-old mice were sacrificed for molecular works