Fig. 4

Zerumbone alleviates behavioral impairments in APP/PS1 mice. APP/PS1 mice were treated for 20 days with zerumbone (or carboxymethylcellulose (CMC), vehicle) by gavage. a A nest construction assay was conducted involving a 3-point scale. The nest-building scores at day 0 and day 10 were not significantly different between the vehicle- and zerumbone-treated APP/PS1 mice. At day 20, zerumbone-treated mice exhibited significantly higher nest-building scores compared to vehicle-treated APP/PS1 mice. b, c A resident-intruder assay was conducted, and the distances traveled and numbers of interactive events were analyzed. Bar graph showing the distances traveled by vehicle- and zerumbone-treated APP/PS1 mice before and after zerumbone administration for 20 days. The vehicle- and zerumbone-treated mice did not exhibit significant differences in distances traveled at any time point (b). c Bar graph showing the number of interactive events of vehicle- and zerumbone-treated APP/PS1 mice before and after 20 days of treatment. At day 20, zerumbone-treated mice exhibited a significantly higher frequency of interactive behavior. d In the novel object recognition test, the length of time that the mouse spent exploring the novel object was recorded and the recognition index was calculated. The bar graph shows the recognition index of vehicle- or zerumbone-treated wild-type (WT) and APP/PS1 mice. At day 20, zerumbone significantly increased the recognition index of APP/PS1 mice. e Zerumbone ameliorated cognitive deficits in APP/PS1 mice in the hidden platform test of the Morris water maze test. All mice showed shorter escape latency on the fourth day, and APP/PS1 mice showed impaired cognitive function compared to WT mice. Zerumbone-treated APP/PS1 mice showed significant improvements in cognitive function during the 4 days of training compared to the vehicle-treated APP/PS1 mice. Data are presented as median and interquartile ranges (n = 7). *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01