![]() ![]() For example, it has been shown that MWM learning impairments are independent of locomotor effects because land-based locomotor reductions did not affect swimming speed. At the opposite pole, treatments that induce hypoactivity can be dissociated from learning deficits in the MWM. For example, hippocampal and septohippocampal lesions in rats reliably induce hyperactivity, but such animals show deficits in the MWM 7. Although the latter is a general characteristic shared by all water mazes 6, the MWM capitalizes on this strength. These include the lack of required pretraining, its high reliability across a wide range of tank configurations and testing procedures, its cross-species utility (rats, mice and humans (in a virtual maze 4)), extensive evidence of its validity as a measure of hippocampally dependent spatial navigation and reference memory 5, its specificity as a measure of place learning, and its relative immunity to motivational differences across a range of experimental treatment effects that are secondary to the central purpose of the task (genetic, pharmacological, nutritional, toxicological and lesion). Several characteristics have contributed to the prevalent use of the MWM. 2) and subsequently added details and procedures for assessing related forms of learning and memory 3. Morris described the basic procedures in 1984 (ref. The maze was designed as a method to assess spatial or place learning and herein will be referred to as the Morris watermaze (MWM). Many water mazes have been developed, but the one that is referred to as ‘the water maze’ was developed by Richard Morris 1. We present protocols for performing variants of the MWM test, from which results can be obtained from individual animals in as few as 6 days. The MWM has proven to be a robust and reliable test that is strongly correlated with hippocampal synaptic plasticity and NMDA receptor function. Escape from water is relatively immune from activity or body mass differences, making it ideal for many experimental models. Cued trials determine whether performance factors that are unrelated to place learning are present. ![]() Search-to-platform area determines the degree of reliance on spatial versus non-spatial strategies. Trial-dependent, latent and discrimination learning can be assessed using modifications of the basic protocol. Reversal and shift trials enhance the detection of spatial impairments. Spatial learning is assessed across repeated trials and reference memory is determined by preference for the platform area when the platform is absent. The Morris water maze (MWM) is a test of spatial learning for rodents that relies on distal cues to navigate from start locations around the perimeter of an open swimming arena to locate a submerged escape platform. ![]()
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