Fig. 2

Assessing effects of paternal Cort-treatment on offspring social behaviour. A–D, the degree of social reward in male or female offspring was not affected by paternal Cort-treatment. Time and ratio of the time spent in the social-conditioned bedding. Males: n = 39/35; females: n = 37/39. E paternal Cort-treatment reduces male dominance in the tube test. % wins calculated as the number of wins per group in the total number of interactions. n = 28 per group, with a total of 112 unique interactions. F–H paternal corticosterone treatment increases male attractiveness in the ‘standard’ set up only. Each point represents the results from one female mouse. Standard: n = 29 per group; Mouse only: n = 16 per group; Bedding only: n = 12 per group. I PatCort mice do not interact more with female mice, compared to PatCT. n = 14 per group. A and C: 2-way ANOVA, data represented as mean ± SEM. B and D: Mann–Whitney test, data represented as median ± interquartile range. E–H one-sample chi-square test. I: unpaired t-test, data represented as mean ± SEM. ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001