Figure 4. Abnormal maternal behaviors in Gabrd^−/− mice.

a, Representative photographs of nests built by wild type and Gabrd^−/−mothers. Gabrd^−/− mothers fail to build a proper nest and keep the pups further away (arrows) than the wild type mother. A neglected/cannibalized pup is indicated by an arrowhead. b, Dispersion of the pups by their respective mothers is shown as the average distance of the pups from the centroid (X_mean) and the variance of the distance (σ²) from the centroid for wild type and Gabrd^−/− pups. The values are shown for a representative wild type (black circles) and Gabrd^−/− litter (white circles) after 10 min. The summarized data for X_mean and σ² for all the wild type litters and Gabrd^−/− litters over a 10 min period are shown in c and d, respectively. e, Decreased survival of pups born to Gabrd^+/− and Gabrd^−/− mice is reduced by enhancing GABA_AR δ-subunit-mediated inhibition by including THIP in the drinking water. f, Pups born to Gabrd^+/− and Gabrd^−/− mice but reared by a surrogate wild type mother immediately following birth had an increase in survival compared to wild type pups reared by Gabrd^+/− and Gabrd^−/− surrogate mothers immediately following birth.