Figure 4.

Mice Born to EE Fathers Have a Mild but Significant Cognitive Advantage

(A) Breeding scheme.

(B) Mice born to EE fathers have a significantly bigger cognitive score. Significance for the F1 generation was calculated using linear mixed models to account for batch and litter effects (see Experimental Procedures). ^∗p < 0.05 (t-value = 2.80, df = 10). HC:HC: n = 29, N = 6; EE:HC: n = 32, N = 7 (n represents number of mice, N represents number in litter).

(C) Plot illustrating the magnitude of change of each individual parameter that went into the cognitive score calculation.

(D) Oocyte injection scheme. The injections were carried out as described in Figure 2. The mice born from these injected fertilized oocytes were then tested in behavioral tasks at the age of 3–4 months.

(E) Injection of EE sperm RNA into fertilized oocytes provides a cognitive advantage to the offspring, as reflected in the significant increase in the cognitive score.

(F) Plot illustrating the magnitude of change in the different groups of each individual parameter of the cognitive score. Significance for the offspring of oocyte injections was calculated using a two-tailed Student’s t test (see Experimental Procedures).

^∗p < 0.05. n = 9 (HC sperm RNA + negative control oocyte injections), n = 14 (EE sperm RNA + negative control oocyte injections), n = 18 (EE sperm RNA + miR-212/132 inhibitor oocyte injections). Error bars indicate SEM.