Morris Water Maze
In the Morris water maze (MWM), animals learn to find the target platform, escaping from the aversive water, by using the environmental cues. This apparatus is widely used in investigating the issues of learning and memory, such as the development, phenotyping, dementia, aging, new drugs, and memory-related neurodegenerative disorders.
MWM consists a water tank (120 cm in diameter) and a platform (10 cm in diameter), which is placed in the tank and submerged 1 cm below the water surface. The EthoVision XT system is used to collect the images during the 4-day training (60 s / trial; 4 trials / per day) and probe test (60 sec; day 5). Basically, animals demonstrate a representative learning curve during the four training days and spend more than 50% of time lingering the target quadrant during the probe test.
Procedure
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Session 1
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Session 2
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Session 3
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Session 4
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Day1
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N
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E
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SE
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NW
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Day2
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SE
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N
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NW
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E
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Day3
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NW
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SE
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E
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N
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Day4
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E
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NW
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N
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SE
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Day5 (probe)
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NE
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Modified from: Weitzner, Engler-Chiurazzi, Kotilinek, Ashe, and Reed (2015)
Acquisition day 1.
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Acquisition day 4.
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Probe test (day5).
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