Table 4: Study 2 results for c-Fos principal component analysis (PCA) factor scores after a high (Clinical) or low (Milk) dose of oral oxytocin (OXT) versus saline with whisker brushing in postnatal day (P) 14 and P21 male and female OXTR:EGFP mice.

Average c-Fos cell densities were z-scored per IHC batch and z-scores were entered into a PCA. Factor scores are expressed as mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Main and interaction effects p – values are from multivariate mixed model analyses on factor scores and effect sizes are expressed in parentheses as partial eta squared values. Bold font emphasizes statistical significance. Post-hoc results are Bonferroni corrected for multiple comparisons. * = significance did not survive Bonferroni corrected post-hoc test. T = treatment; S = sex; A = age; PVN = paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus

Study 2 PCA c-Fos	Mean ± SEM				p-value (ηp2)
	Male		Female		Treat ment	Sex	Age	T × S	T × A	A × S	T × S × A	post hoc
	P14	P21	P14	P21
Factor 1 sensory
Saline	0.40 ± 0.52	0.47 ± 0.31	0.49 ± 0.25	0.25 ± 0.42	0.02 (0.09)	0.94 (0.00)	0.93 (0.00)	0.96 (0.00)	0.57 (0.02)	0.04* (0.06)	0.37 (0.03)	saline > Clinical
Milk	−0.27 ± 0.52	0.32 ± 0.35	0.64 ± 0.29	−0.44 ± 0.14
Clinical	−0.63 ± 0.37	−0.02 ± 0.30	−0.26 ± 0.38	−0.31 ± 0.35
Factor 2 PVN
Saline	−0.51 ± 0.24	0.37 ± 0.22	−0.51 ± 0.34	−0.60 ± 0.29	0.00 (0.18)	0.00 (0.14)	0.24 (0.02)	0.00 (0.16)	0.67 (0.01)	0.00 (0.14)	0.26 (0.04)	♂saline < ♂Clinical ♂P14 < ♂P21
Milk	−0.54 ± 0.08	−0.20 ± 0.37	−0.12 ± 0.31	−0.35 ± 0.32
Clinical	0.55 ± 0.43	1.63 ± 0.21	0.13 ± 0.29	−0.68 ± 0.30
Factor 3 motor
Saline	−0.39 ± 0.25	0.16 ± 0.30	1.22 ± 0.29	0.03 ± 0.43	0.23 (0.04)	0.95 (0.00)	0.71 (0.00)	0.05 (0.08)	0.41 (0.02)	0.11 (0.03)	0.16 (0.05)	♀saline > ♀Milk & Clinical
Milk	−0.04 ± 0.40	0.09 ± 0.44	−0.59 ± 0.09	−0.21 ± 0.31
Clinical	−0.12 ± 0.47	0.44 ± 0.53	−0.22 ± 0.19	−0.18 ± 0.50