Fig. 5. Effect of bFGF treatment on performances in the open field and fear conditioning tests.

a–c Statistical results of the open field test. The open field test was implemented 2 days after surgery to assess spontaneous locomotor activity (e.g., total distance, number of lines crossed) and exploratory activity (e.g., rearing). The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. (n = 12 animals per group). d Percentage of time frozen among rats subjected to contextual fear conditioning (3 days after surgery), which reflects hippocampal-dependent memory. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. (n = 12 animals per group). ^***P < 0.001 vs. sham + vehicle. ^#P < 0.05 vs. I/R + vehicle. e Percentage of time frozen among rats subjected to cued fear conditioning (3 days after surgery). The first 120 s was used as a baseline for comparison with the latter 360 s under auditory cued stimulus; this reflects hippocampal-independent memory. The data are presented as the mean ± SEM. (n = 12 animals per group). ^***P < 0.001 vs. sham + vehicle. ^#P < 0.05 vs. I/R