What does water maze measure?
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What does water maze measure?
Introduction. Developed in the 1980s by Richard Morris (Morris, 1981 , 1984 ; Morris et al., 1982 ), the water maze has become one of the most commonly used tasks to measure spatial learning in rodents, including normal and genetically modified mice.
What does the Morris water maze test?
The Morris water maze is widely used to study spatial memory and learning. Animals are placed in a pool of water that is colored opaque with powdered non-fat milk or non-toxic tempera paint, where they must swim to a hidden escape platform.
How does Morris water maze work?
The Morris water maze tests impairments in visual short-term memory and visual–spatial abilities in small rodents [69, 70]. In the water maze test, the mice are placed in a large circular pool filled with opaque water and are given the task to swim to a platform that can be either visible or hidden.
Is the forced swim test still used?
Due in part to concerns about the forced-swim test’s accuracy, major drug companies such as Roche, Janssen and AbbVie have abandoned the procedure in recent years.
What is the elevated zero maze?
The elevated plus maze (EPM) and elevated zero maze (EZM) are behavioral tests that are widely employed to assess anxiety-like behaviors in rats and mice following experimental manipulations, or to test the effects of pharmacological agents.
How do you use Y maze?
There are two main protocols used with the Y maze. The first evaluates spatial memory using rewarded alternation. First, the mouse is familiarized with the maze. Then, food rewards are placed in the arms of the Y and one door is closed off.
How do you calculate Y maze?
The entry is considered when all four limbs are within the arm. The alternation percentage is calculated by dividing the number of alternations by number of possible triads x 100. The maze is cleaned with Virkon solution between animals to eliminate odor traces.
Who invented Morris water maze?
Richard Morris1
Many water mazes have been developed, but the one that is referred to as ‘the water maze’ was developed by Richard Morris1. The maze was designed as a method to assess spatial or place learning and herein will be referred to as the Morris watermaze (MWM).
How do you do a forced swim test?
Temperature is tested before each test with an infra-red or glass thermometer. Each mouse is inserted gently by her/his tail into the water for a 6-minute testing session. However, only the final 4 minutes is analyzed as nearly all mice will swim continuously while trying to escape in the first 2 minutes.
How is forced swim test measured?
Forced Swim Test (Porsolt Test) This physical immobility is thought to be an indication of behavioral despair. Investigators measure the amount of time between when the animal is placed in the chamber and the onset of immobility.
What is zero maze test?
The zero maze is used to test anxiety- and exploration-related behaviors in rats and mice. The elevated zero maze is very similar to the elevated plus maze, but lacks a center square.
What does the Y maze measure?
Y Maze Spontaneous Alternation is a behavioral test for measuring the willingness of rodents to explore new environments. Rodents typically prefer to investigate a new arm of the maze rather than returning to one that was previously visited.
How do you analyze Y maze?
To test this, one arm of the Y-Maze is blocked off and the animal is allowed to explore the other two arms. The animal’s memory function is tested when the animal is returned to the maze with all arms open and monitored for the tendency to spend time in the new arm or the known arms.
What does the Y maze test?
What is Y maze used for?
The Y-maze can be used to assess short term memory in mice. Spontaneous alternation, a measure of spatial working memory, can be assessed by allowing mice to explore all three arms of the maze and is driven by an innate curiosity of rodents to explore previously unvisited areas.
What is escape latency in Morris water maze?
One of the most commonly used performance measures is the escape latency, defined as the time for the animal to find the platform and escape the maze. Other measures proposed in the literature include the swimming path length, which is suggested to be a better measure than escape latency1,8,9.
