compared with AAV-GFP injected control mice (Additional file 2: Supplementary Fig. 2b, P = 0.784). The immobility of the AAV-Cre injected mice in the FST is comparable to the AAV-GFP injected mice (Additional file 2: Supplementary Fig. 2c, P = 0.830). Meanwhile, there were no changes of the latency to eat (P = 0.565) and food consumption (5 min: P = 0.969, 10 min: P = 0.981, 30 min: P = 0.423) of AAV-Cre injected mice in the NSFT compared to mice injected with the control virus (Additional file 2: Supplementary Fig. 2d, genotype: F (1, 18) = 0.649, P = 0.431; timepoints: F (2, 36) = 90.480, P < 0.001; genotype × timepoints: F (2, 36) = 1.116, P = 0.339). Then, the virus-injected female mice were mated with male Bdnfflox/flox mice. After parturition, the postpartum female mice were used for behavioral assessments (Fig. 4c). In the SPT, mice injected with AAV-Cre showed a decrease in preference for the 1% sucrose solution compared with AAV-GFP injected control mice (Fig. 4d, P = 0.012). Additionally, the latency to eat (P = 0.024) was increased, while food consumption during the 30-min period (P = 0.001) was significantly increased of AAV-Cre injected
