Fig. 3

Microglial ablation does not acutely affect learning and memory or neuron numbers or survival. Memory task performance at 48 h after diphtheria toxin injection to ablate microglia in Cx3cr1-Dtr rats compared to wild-types (wt). a Y-maze latency to novel arm entry (t₍₁₇₎ = 2.32, p = 0.003; n = 8–11). b Y-maze discrimination ratio (one sample t test to zero: wt: t₍₁₀₎ = 3.31, p = 0.0079. Cx3cr1-Dtr: t₍₈₎ = 2.34, p = 0.046). c Novel object recognition discrimination ratio (one sample t test to zero: wt: t₍₁₁₎ = 4.94, p = 0.0004. Cx3cr1-Dtr: t₍₉₎ = 5.43, p = 0.0004; n = 10–12). d Hippocampal doublecortin (Dcx), neuronal nuclei (Neun) gene expression (n = 6 per group). e Number of DCX-positive cells in the subgranular/granular region of the dentate gyrus (n = 6 per group). f Number of NeuN-positive cells in the CA1; g CA3; h hilus; i subgranular/granular region of the dentate gyrus. *p < 0.05: Student’s unpaired t tests. Data are expressed as mean ± SEM