The animal studies were conducted in accordance with the guidelines of the European Union (Council of the European Communities Directive 2010/63/EU) and were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee and local authorities (Government of Upper Bavaria). The HAB and LAB animals, which spent <15% (HAB) or >60% (LAB) of the total test time on one of the open arms of the EPM were bred for over 45 generations in the animal facility of the Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (MPIP). Suitable numbers of HAB×LAB crosses were made to receive F1 offspring for behavioral and molecular studies. CD-1 and C57BL/6 J mice were purchased from Charles River (Sulzfeld, Germany). Unlike CD-1 mice, C57BL/6 J is an inbred mouse strain and is the preferred choice for AAV experiment because of its relatively homogenous genetic background and little phenotypic variability. Thus, any difference in phenotype can be traced back to the respective treatment. All animals were housed under optimal conditions, i.e., a temperature of 23 ± 2°C, a relative air humidity of 60 ± 5% and a 12/12-h light–dark cycle with beginning of the light phase at 8 AM and had access to food pellets (Altromin GmbH, Lage, Germany) and tap water ad libitum. Only male mice were utilized for this study to avoid potential difference in behavioral or molecular effects when female mice are in different stages of estrous cycle. All the behavioral experiments were performed between 08:30 and 11:30 A.M.
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