Water maze (neuroscience)

A water maze is a behavioral assay used in neuroscience to test spatial memory in rodents. They are particularly used to explore the role of egocentric (body-centered; compare to allocentric, world-centered) cues in spatial navigation and memory. Many types of water mazes have been developed, each with different strengths and limitations.[1] In a typical water maze task, a mouse or rat is placed in a maze in which the alleys are filled with water, providing a motivation to escape.[2][3][4] The pool is usually either filled with an opaque liquid, or the experiment is conducted in darkness. This allows researchers to isolate the role of egocentric cues in spatial memory, as the presence of allocentric cues (i.e., visual and tactile cues) is minimized in this experimental design.

Many different mazes exist, such as T- and Y-mazes,[5] Cincinnati water mazes,[6] and radial arm mazes.[7] Water mazes have been used to test discrimination learning[5] and spatial learning abilities.[7] The Morris water navigation task is often called a "water maze task", but this is erroneous as it is not, properly speaking, a maze.[2] 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.

References

  1. ↑ Vorhees, Charles V.; Williams, Michael T. (2014-09-01). "Value of water mazes for assessing spatial and egocentric learning and memory in rodent basic research and regulatory studies". Neurotoxicology and Teratology. 45: 75–90. doi:10.1016/j.ntt.2014.07.003. ISSN 0892-0362.
  2. 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.
  3. ↑ Mohseni, Fahimeh; Behnam, Shahram Ghorbani; Rafaiee, Raheleh (2020). "Review Paper: A Review of the Historical Evolutionary Process of Dry and Water Maze Tests in Rodents". Basic and Clinical Neuroscience. 11 (4): 389–402. doi:10.32598/bcn.11.4.1425.1. PMC 7878036.
  4. ↑ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ntt.2016.08.002
  5. 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.
  6. ↑ 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. Bibcode:2016NTxT...57....1V. doi:10.1016/j.ntt.2016.08.002. PMC 5056837. PMID 27545092.
  7. 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.


This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.