Water maze (neuroscience)

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.

References

1. 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. Volume 2: Clinical and Comparative Studies. East Sussex, United Kingdom: Psychology Press. pp. 145–188. ISBN 978-0-86377-807-0.
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. 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.