Fig. 2

Dexmedetomidine prevents surgery-induced spatial memory deficit in rats tested in MWM. Surgery did not significantly affect escape latency (A) or swimming speed (B). Rats in the model group presented fewer platform crossings (C) and the percentage of time spent in the target quadrant (D) at 3 days, but not 7 days after surgery than the Control group. However, the surgery-induced spatial memory deficit was reversed by dexmedetomidine administration (C and D). N = 18 in the model and Dex group.Data wereanalyzed by repeated measures and one-way ANOVA with Tukey’s multiple comparisons test. Boxplots show median (line) and 25th and 75th percentiles; whiskers show 10th and 90th percentiles. * P < 0.05 Compared with Model. MWM, Morris water maze