Fig. 2.

Effects of lead exposure on spontaneous locomotion (a) and swimming activity (b) of adult mice. a, b, Graphs depicting the spontaneous locomotor activity in the open-field (a) and the number of total 30° turns (turns to the left and right) in the FST (b) for controls (Ctrl) and animals that received either 180 ppm (Pb180) or 540 ppm (Pb540) of lead acetate in their ad-lib water supply. Lead exposure period was of at least 60 days (74 ± 6, max = 88 days). Ctrl group drank tap water. Note that while no significant differences were observed for locomotor activity (a), animals exposed to both doses of lead displayed significantly more 30° turns than controls (b). Ctrl, n = 57 animals from 15 litters; Pb180, n = 46 animals from 9 litters; Pb540, n = 34 from 6 litters. Bars are means ± SEM. *p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01 compared to Ctrl