The light and dark box test (LDBT), open field test (OFT), and elevated plus maze (EPM)

Details are provided in supplemental methods. All rats were handled 3 times a week for 3–5 min by experimenter prior to the day of behavioral assays. Briefly, the LDBT apparatus consisted of one lit compartment (50 lux) and one dark compartment, which were adjacent to each other with a small opening enabling the rat to transition between the boxes during 5 min test. The OFT arena had 4 squares forming the center; 12 squares forming the middle perimeter; and 20 squares forming the outer perimeter. On the test day, rats were placed in the center and the time spent in the different zones during the 5 min test. Both tests were video-recorded and scored using Anymaze video tracking software (Stoelting, Woods Dale, IL).

The elevated plus maze consisted of 2 long arms with no walls, an intersection, and 2 closed walls. On the test day, the animals were placed in the center area of the maze and allowed to explore the open and closed arms for 5 min. The total amount of time spent in each arm was recorded directly to the computer from the infrared beam breaks.