Figure 3.

Grafting of SVZ-NSCs into the hippocampus at 5 days postinjury maintains normal mood and memory function. (A): Results of an FST, which used the time spent in floating as a measure of depression. Rats receiving sham-grafting surgery after hippocampal injury (red) displayed increased depressive-like behavior, whereas rats receiving SVZ-NSC grafts after hippocampal injury (green) exhibited mood function similar to that of naïve control rats (blue). ***, p < .001. (B): Findings in a NORT, which used percentage of the exploration time spent with novel object as a measure of the object recognition memory. Rats receiving sham-grafting surgery exhibited impaired object recognition memory, whereas rats receiving SVZ-NSC grafts demonstrated object recognition ability comparable to that of naïve control rats. *, p < .05. (C1–D2): Results of a WMT. Note that based on changes in the mean latency values to reach the hidden platform over seven learning sessions (C1–C3), rats in all three groups exhibited ability for spatial learning (r² = 0.5–0.6). (D1, D2): Comparison of memory retrieval function among the three groups, based on the amounts of time spent within the platform quadrant (D1) and the platform area (D2) in a probe test conducted at 24 hours after the seventh learning session. Note that rats receiving sham-grafting surgery after hippocampal injury exhibited impaired memory retrieval ability, whereas rats receiving SVZ-NSC grafts after hippocampal injury displayed memory retrieval ability similar to that of naïve control rats. *, p < .05; **, p < .01. Abbreviations: FST, forced swim test; NORT, novel object recognition test; SVZ-NSC, subventricular zone-neural stem cell; WMT, water maze test.