Figure 1.

Treatment with rapamycin for eight weeks is sufficient to prevent the onset of impaired social behaviors. A, Diagram of treatment and behavior paradigm. Red line denotes period of rapamycin treatment from postnatal day 7- postnatal day 63. Behavioral assessment then begins four weeks after cessation of rapamycin treatment. Critical period denotes period to develop abnormal behaviors. B, Diagram of three-chamber social behavior test. C, D, Eight weeks of rapamycin prevents the development of a social deficit in (C) three-chamber social approach, social novelty and (D) social olfactory testing. E, F, Eight weeks of treatment do not prevent (E) repetitive grooming or (F) deficits in reversal learning behavior on a water Y maze. G, In rotarod testing, eight-week rapamycin-treated groups show improved motor learning compared with vehicle treated mutants. H, Open field testing revealed no significant impairment in locomotor function between any group. I, J, No anxiety-like behaviors were observed in (I) time spent in open field center nor (J) time spend in elevated plus maze open arms following eight weeks of rapamycin treatment. Two-way ANOVA, Bonferroni post hoc analysis. *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001, ****p < 0.0001. FA, familiar animal; NA, novel animal; NO, novel object; ns, not significant. RAPA, rapamycin; VEH, vehicle; RDay, reversal day. Data are reported as mean ± SEM.