Research Paper Volume 12, Issue 2 pp 1965—1986

Figure 2. Anesthesia/surgery induces age-dependent postoperative delirium-like behaviors in mice. Buried food test in the 9 (A) or 18 (B) months old mice. Y maze test (Entries in novel arm) in the 9 (C) or 18 (D) months old mice. Y maze test (Duration in novel arm) in the 9 (E) or 18 (F) months old mice. Open field test (Freezing time) in the 9 (G) or 18 (H) months old mice. (I) Open field test (Time spent in the center) in the 9 (I) or 18 (J) months old mice. Open field test (Latency to center) in the 9 (K) or 18 (L) months old mice. The composite Z scores quantitatively demonstrate the postoperative delirium-like behavior between the control condition and anesthesia/surgery in 9 (M) or 18 (N) months old mice. The comparison of the qualitative (O) or quantitative (P) changes of the postoperative delirium-like behaviors between the 9 and 18 months old mice. The composite Z scores in the 18 months old mice were higher than those in the 9 months old mice, which demonstrates that the anesthesia/surgery may cause a greater postoperative delirium-like behaviors in the 18 months old mice than those in the 9 months old mice (P). N = 10 in each group. The Student’s t-test was used to analyze the data presented in (A–N). The Mann–Whitney U test was used to analyze the data presented in (P). * = P < 0.05.