Fig. 3

Spatial memory evaluated by the Barnes maze between D30 and D40. a During the learning phase, the latency to escape of pMCAo+D mice was significantly longer on the first three days than that for the other three groups (P < 0.05) but was no longer significantly different on the 4th day. b During the retention phase, pMCAo+D mice showed significantly longer latencies to escape than all other groups: C (P < 0.01), D (P < 0.01) and pMCAo mice (p < 0.001). c During the 4 days of the reversal phase, pMCAo+D mice showed significantly longer latencies to escape than animals of all other groups (P < 0.05). Overall, pMCAo+D mice showed spatial memory deficits and impaired plasticity especially during the retention and reversal phases of the maze test. For the learning phase *P < 0.05 between pMCAo+D and pMCAo mice; for the retention phase, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001; for the reversal phase, *P < 0.05 and **P < 0.01, between pMCAo+D and C mice; # P < 0.05 and ##P < 0.01 between pMCAo+D and pMCAo mice; & P < 0.05, between pMCAO+D and D mice