FIGURE 3.

Light/dark transition test for anxiety-like behavior reveals male β-arrestin 1 KO animals spend more time in anxiogenic compartment with higher locomotor. Light/dark transition was performed for WT, HET, and β-arrestin 1 KO male and female C57BL/6 mice in a 10-min session. No sex effect was observed for time spent in the light (anxiogenic) compartment (n = 26 males, n = 29 females) but a significant genotype effect was observed between KO male mice (n = 10) and WT (n = 6) and HET male mice (n = 10) (A). No genotype effect was observed between female β-arrestin 1 WT (n = 7), HET (n = 7), or KO mice (n = 15) (A). Total ambulation in the light (anxiogenic) compartment was significantly increased in β-arrestin 1 KO males compared with male WT or HET mice, with no genotype effect observed in females (B). No sex or genotype effects were observed for distance traveled in the dark (anxiolytic) compartment (C). No sex or genotype differences were observed for number of crosses between the light and dark compartments (D) or latency to enter the dark (anxiolytic) compartment (E). Significance by two-way ANOVA with multiple comparisons (Tukey within sex, Sidek between genotype), ^∗∗p < 0.01, ^∗∗∗p < 0.001; data represented as mean ± SEM.