Fig. 7. Impaired ability of Smad7^OE mice to discriminate during a whisker-dependent behavioral task.

a Smad7 overexpression was performed by IUE to target L4 barrel cortex, and whisker-trimmed, adult mice were assessed on the novel texture discrimination task (NTD). b Schematic for testing whisker-dependent texture discrimination. After habituation to the arena and presentation of similar textures (“A,” gray), a novel texture (“B,” green) is presented in the test session. c Interaction times for the familiar and novel texture during the test session for individual subjects in each group. d NTD index was calculated as follows: (interaction times for novel − familiar textures) divided by total interaction times. No significant interaction between sex and genotype was found (ANOVA: F_2,26 = 0.28, p = 0.76). Performance for each group is displayed as violin plots with group means ± SEM. A positive NTD ratio was observed for both control groups, indicating a preference towards the novel texture. This was not seen in the Smad7^OE group. e Total interaction times were not significantly different between Smad7^OE and control groups. Displayed are group means ± SEM. For (d, e), asterisks indicate **p = 0.005, ***p = 0.0001, ANOVA with Tukey’s HSD test (n = 7 female and 5 male EYFP^OE n = 5 female and 6 male Smad7^OE n = 6 female and 3 male Smad7^OE~control mice). Source data are provided as a Source data file.