User:Kbraxton/sandbox

Water maze as a device used to test the spatial learning and memory in rats. Many water mazes exsit other water maze techniques have been developed, such as the radial arm water maze, the Y or T maze alteration, the barnes maze, and a virtual water maze (vMWM).The development of these mazes has made it possible for looking into hippocampal synaptic plasticity, NMDA receptor function, and looking into neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's disease.

Overview of Technique
A basic water maze involves placing a rat or mouse into a opaque pool of water and watching their attempt escape onto a hidden or stationary platform. The animals spatial learning is monitored by their escape behavior: random or spatial positioning. Different protocols can b changed to test changes in learning and memory including spatial reversal, spatial working memory, cued learning, Spatial double-reversal with a smaller platform, spatial acquisition, repeated learning, discrimination learning, and latent learning.

Types
Radial arm maze

The radial arm maze (RAM) tests both spatial and associative learning using a 8-armed maze with a platform in the middle. Unlike the water maze, in RAM food is used as the motivation and it involves slow learning using a repeated measures design.

Y maze alteration

The Y maze is a three- armed maze with platform in the middle is used to test cognition in rats.

T maze alteration

A T-shaped maze giving on-way access to platform to asses spatial learning and memory.

Barnes maze

The Barnes maze is a dry maze test which is a lit circular platform with holes in it that leads to a dark chamber. This maze also tests spacial learning and memory, but unlike the Morris water maze and other water maze alterations no strong stimulation (i.e. water or shock) is used on mice during experiment, but some weak stimulations, like a buzzer, may be used. Kbraxton (talk) 06:05, 19 November 2016 (UTC)

Virtual water maze

A virtual water maze (vMWM) is a a 3-Dimensional computerized version of the Morris water maze that test spatial and place learning in humans. In this water maze there is ability to manipulate the environment (i.e. hidden and/ or stationary platform or landmark cues).

Applications
Water maze testing can be used to look at various brain regions including: Neuropharmacology
 * The hippocampus for testing dependent learning or to test neurogenesis and ,synaptic plasticity in the region and how it correlates to memory and learning.
 * The striatum's involvement with procedural aspects of water maze learning,
 * The basal forebrain, which shows damage to this region can cause loss in learning during hidden platform and probe trials, where rodent is allowed to freely roam to get a sense of the water maze.
 * The cerebellum although the role in water maze testing is not well know, but in general damage to this region can lead to changes in learning.
 * The neocortex is involved in general memory and learning.

The water maze can be used to see what drugs effect various parts of the nervous system involved in learning and memory Neurodegenerative diseases
 * NMDA receptor is involved in place learning rather than memory.

Water maze can be useful in looking for treatments/or models for diseases associated with the nervous system including: Sex/Age Differences
 * Alzheimer's disease and looking at electroacupuncture as a treatment option.
 * Multiple sclerosis and how a ketogenic diet (KD) can effect memory and spacial impairment via central nervous system-inflammation.
 * Huntington;s disease which can be modeled in mice when quinolinic acid is administered.

Water maze can be used to identify similarities and/ or differences in cognition and learning in the sexes.