Early Developmental Low-Dose Methylmercury Exposure Alters Learning and Memory in Periadolescent but Not Young Adult Rats

Figure 3

Methylmercury exposure disrupted recognition memory. ORT was performed at PND-40 (a) and PND-90 (b). The graphs show the recognition index (RI: time exploring new object/total exploration time) as the mean ± SEM; an RI below 0.50 indicates that the animal spent more time exploring the familiar object, and an RI above 0.50 indicates that the animal spent more time exploring the new object. The results were analysed using one-way ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc tests. Significant differences compared with the control group (; ; ) or with the group exposed to 250 μg/kg/day MeHg () are indicated.

(a)

(b)