Fig. 1

β-Glucan administration prevented chronic Toxoplasma gondii Wh6-induced goal-directed behavioral impairment in mice. Ten brain cysts in 200 µl of phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) were gavaged into C57BL/6J mice to establish the T. gondii Wh6 infection model. Four weeks after infection, the behavior performance of mice were evaluated by the Y-maze and temporal order memory (TOM) tests. a–d The aim of the Y-maze test was to examine the spatial memory of mice: a Y-maze test device diagram, b percentage of alternation triplet in the Y-maze test, c number of alternation in the Y-maze test, d number of entries in the Y-maze test. e–i The TOM test was used to appraise the temporal order memory of mice: e TOM test flow chart, f discrimination index in TOM, g percentage of time spent exploring the new object in TOM, h percentage of time spent exploring the old object in TOM, i total exploration time in TOM. Values are presented as the mean ± standard error of the mean (SEM). Asterisks indicate a statistically significant difference at *P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001, according to one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. NC, mice gavaged with PBS as a vehicle control (normal control); NB group, mice intraperitoneally injected with β-glucan solution 2 weeks prior to PBS gavage; TG, mice gavaged with 10 cysts of T. gondii Wh6 strain (T. gondii-infected group); TGB, mice intraperitoneally injected with β-glucan solution 2 weeks prior to T. gondii infection (β-glucan-treated T. gondii-infected group)