2.3 Brain processing
Mice were euthanised by cervical dislocation 3 days after the behavioural and cognitive tests were completed. The brains were immediately removed from the skulls, and the hippocampi were dissected, frozen and maintained at −80°C. For immunohistochemistry (IHC) experiments, mice were anesthetised (ketamine 100 mg-1kg-1 and xylazine 10 mg-1kg-1), intraperitoneally and then perfused with 4% paraformaldehyde (PFA) diluted in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solution intracardially. Their brains were removed and postfixed in 4% PFA overnight at 4°C. Afterwards, the solutions were changed to PFA + 15% sucrose. Finally, the brains were frozen on powdered dry ice and stored at -80°C until sectioning.