Water maze (neuroscience)

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A water maze is a device used to test an animal's memory in which the alleys are filled with water, providing a motivation to escape. [1]

Many different mazes exist, such as T- and Y-mazes, [2] Cincinnati water mazes, [3] and radial arm mazes. [4] Water mazes have been used to test discrimination learning [2] and spatial learning abilities. [4] The Morris water navigation task is often called a "water maze task", but this is erroneous as it is not, properly speaking, a maze. [1] The development of these mazes has aided research into, for example, hippocampal synaptic plasticity, NMDA receptor function, and looking into neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

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Morris water navigation task task used in experiments to measure spatial learning and memory

The Morris water navigation task, also known as the Morris water maze, is a behavioral procedure mostly used with rodents. It is widely used in behavioral neuroscience to study spatial learning and memory. It enables learning, memory, and spatial working to be studied with great accuracy, and can also be used to assess damage to particular cortical regions of the brain. It is used by neuroscientists to measure the effect of neurocognitive disorders on spatial learning and possible neural treatments, to test the effect of lesions to the brain in areas concerned with memory, and to study how age influences cognitive function and spatial learning. The task is also used as a tool to study drug-abuse, neural systems, neurotransmitters, and brain development.

Radial arm maze

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Barnes maze

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Elevated plus maze

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Spontaneous Alternation Behavior (SAB) describes the tendency to alternate in their pursuit of different stimuli in consecutive trials despite a lack of training or reinforcement. The Behavior emerged from experiments using animals, mainly rodents, who naturally demonstrated the behavioral pattern when placed in previously unexplored maze shapes.

In behavioral science, a T-maze is a simple maze used in animal cognition experiments. It is shaped like the letter T, providing the subject, typically a rodent, with a straightforward choice. T-mazes are used to study how the rodents function with memory and spatial learning through applying various stimuli. Starting in the early 20th century, rodents were used in experiments such as the T-maze. These concepts of T-mazes are used to assess rodent behavior. The different tasks, such as left-right discrimination and forced alternation, are mainly used with rodents to test reference and working memory.

Cincinnati Water Maze

The Cincinnati Water Maze (CWM) is a type of water maze. Water mazes are experimental equipment used in laboratories; they are mazes that are partially filled with water, and rodents are put in them to be observed and timed as they make their way through the maze. Generally two sets of rodents are put through the maze, one that has been treated, and another that has not, and the results are compared. The experimenter uses this type of maze to learn about the subject's cognitive or emotional processes.

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References

  1. 1 2 Schenk, Françoise (1998). "5: The Morris Water Maze (is not a maze)". In Foreman, Nigel; Gillett, Raphael (eds.). Handbook of Spatial Research Paradigms and Methodologies. Vol. 2: Clinical and Comparative Studies. East Sussex, United Kingdom: Psychology Press. pp. 145–188. ISBN   978-0-86377-807-0.
  2. 1 2 van Abeelen JH, Schetgens TM (March 1981). "Inheritance of discrimination learning ability and retention in BA and DBA mice". Behavior Genetics . 11 (2): 173–177. doi:10.1007/BF01065628. PMID   7271683. S2CID   29310788.
  3. Vorhees, Charles V.; Williams, Michael T. (2016). "Cincinnati water maze: A review of the development, methods, and evidence as a test of egocentric learning and memory". Neurotoxicology and Teratology . 57: 1–19. doi:10.1016/j.ntt.2016.08.002. PMC   5056837 . PMID   27545092.
  4. 1 2 Hyde LA, Hoplight BJ, Denenberg VH (March 1998). "Water version of the radial-arm maze: learning in three inbred strains of mice". Brain Research . 785 (2): 236–244. doi:10.1016/S0006-8993(97)01417-0. PMID   9518631. S2CID   21857767.