TABLE 2.
Statistical analysis of anxiety-like and exploratory behavior.
| Parameter | 5-HTT +/+ | 5-HTT +/− | 5-HTT −/− | ANOVA | Effect size | Tukey’s test, p | |||||
| Mean ± SEM | Mean ± SEM | Mean ± SEM | F | p | η2p | Trans | +/+ vs. +/− | +/+ vs. −/− | +/− vs. −/− | ||
| Elevated plus maze test | n = 15 | n = 14 | n = 11 | ||||||||
| Time spent on open arm (rel.) | A | 18.0 ± 2.7 | 30.0 ± 4.6 | 5.3 ± 1.7 | 38.562 | <0.001 | 0.87 | NT | 0.010 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Entries into open arms (rel.) | A | 33.0 ± 2.5 | 37.0 ± 3.6 | 18.8 ± 4.1 | 8.404 | 0.002 | 0.41 | NT | 0.428 | 0.023 | 0.002 |
| Distance traveled on open arms (m) | A | 1.1 ± 0.2 | 2.2 ± 0.4 | 0.2 ± 0.1 | 25.384 | <0.001 | 0.76 | NT | 0.002 | 0.012 | <0.001 |
| Sum of entries (#) | L | 23.5 ± 1.6 | 26.1 ± 1.9 | 17.1 ± 2.0 | 7.255 | 0.006 | 0.47 | NT | 1.000 | 0.013 | 0.016 |
| Dark light test | |||||||||||
| Latency to enter light compartment (s) | A | 6.7 ± 4.7 | 4.4 ± 1.0 | 10.5 ± 5.0 | 0.851 | 0.435 | 0.04 | Log | 0.755 | 0.406 | 0.813 |
| Time spent in light compartment (s) | A | 56.6 ± 10.3 | 52.6 ± 7.6 | 23.8 ± 11.3 | 2.859 | 0.072 | 0.15 | NT | 0.900 | 0.073 | 0.176 |
| Entries into light compartment (#) | L | 11.3 ± 1.8 | 11.3 ± 1.7 | 7.0 ± 2.4 | 1.817 | 0.178 | 0.10 | SR | 0.999 | 0.228 | 0.227 |
| Open field test | |||||||||||
| Time spent in center (s) | A | 10.8 ± 2.2 | 11.2 ± 2.0 | 3.1 ± 1.7 | 11.380 | <0.001 | 0.39 | Log | 0.977 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Entries into center (#) | A | 7.1 ± 1.4 | 8.1 ± 1.1 | 1.6 ± 0.8 | 14.710 | <0.001 | 0.45 | Log | 0.673 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Distance traveled (m) | L | 26.9 ± 2.0 | 30.5 ± 1.6 | 18.5 ± 1.8 | 9.653 | <0.001 | 0.43 | NT | 0.503 | 0.011 | <0.001 |
| Free exploration test | |||||||||||
| Latency to enter arena (s) | A | 111.3 ± 24.0 | 155.1 ± 36.2 | 374.6 ± 103.4 | 4.203 | 0.029 | 0.29 | SR | 0.414 | 0.023 | 0.263 |
| Time spent in arena (s) | A | 159.7 ± 24.5 | 204.2 ± 33.2 | 138.0 ± 38.0 | 1.013 | 0.373 | 0.05 | NT | 0.582 | 0.888 | 0.364 |
| Entries into arena (#) | L | 19.9 ± 2.4 | 21.6 ± 2.7 | 14.4 ± 3.8 | 1.326 | 0.280 | 0.08 | NT | 0.926 | 0.432 | 0.278 |
Behavioral data are given as untransformed means of the three groups (5-HTT +/+, 5-HTT +/−, 5-HTT −/−) ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Statistical information presented: main effects of genotype (LMM: F-ratio, p-value), effect sizes (η2p), transformation used (Trans; NT = not transformed, SR = square root transformation, Log = logarithmic transformation). A = anxiety-like behavior, L = exploratory locomotion, bold = p ≤ 0.05, bold italic = p ≤ 0.1.