User talk:Kbraxton/sandbox

Applications of the Morris water maze in the study of learning and memory http://ac.els-cdn.com/S0165017301000674/1-s2.0-S0165017301000674-main.pdf?_tid=a6ba6a9a-8833-11e6-a9a4-00000aab0f02&acdnat=1475366790_cda55a4759e566202218b2509266df0c

I intend to use this source to identify applications of the water maze technique.

Path Complexity in Virtual Water Maze Navigation: Differential Associations with Age, Sex, and Regional Brain Volume http://cercor.oxfordjournals.org/content/25/9/3122.full.pdf+html

I intend to use this article to discuss how water maze can be used to show difference between age and gender in terms of path complexity.

Morris water maze: procedures for assessing spatial and related forms of learning and memory

I intend to use this article to explain the development of the water maze technique Kbraxton (talk) 03:26, 2 October 2016 (UTC)

Background
Water maze as a method used to test the spatial learning and memory in rats. In 1984, Richard G. Morris developed the water maze technique and it would soon be know as the Morris water navigation task. Since then, 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 .Kbraxton (talk) 13:55, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

Overview of Technique
A water maze involves placing a rat into a opaque pool of water and watching  heir attempt escape onto a hidden platform. The rats spatial learning is monitored by their escape behavior: random or spatial positioning. Both An image-analyser (HVS Ltd, VP110) and a BBC Model B Microcomputer are used. to track the rats escape behaviors. Kbraxton (talk) 14:24, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

Types
Radial arm maze

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

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)

Note: I intend to add more details contrasting each of the types of mazes from the original water maze and adding images.Kbraxton (talk) 14:53, 10 October 2016 (UTC)

Peer Review
I think you did a great job in staying neutral in your writing, and not seeming to favor any options. I do think that your lead sentence could be more engaging, I'm not sure if you intended your first sentence to be your lead sentence. So if not, then it may be helpful for the reader if you added a lead sentence that gave a quick insight on that section and the topic. I like that you're planning on adding pictures to your maze section, I think that would be very beneficial on exhibiting your topic. I didn't even think about adding pictures, but I think it's a great to add visual aids. I also think it may be good to add a little more detail on the applications of the Water Maze, and maybe some significant experiments that it has been used in. Or any discoveries it has assisted in. Overall though, I think this is a great start. I would just add a little more detail to some of your sections, to give the read a little more context on the topic. It seems like there are something you could go into more detail about, that could keep the reader more involved. Kdgaffney (talk) 23:02, 15 October 2016 (UTC)

Peer Review
I think that it is a good start, however more details should be added, such as more information about the different types of mazes, and the different supporting paragraphs can be fleshed out a bit more. I think you should also add how the mazes test the different cognitive functions. Also, there are a few spelling/grammar mistakes. You did a good job of remaining neutral about the topic.Mejoh004 (talk) 01:11, 16 October 2016 (UTC)

Great start on your article and valuable peer reviews. I removed the brackets around 'image analyzer' and BBC Model B microchip computer because that makes an internal link and those do not have Wikipedia pages. If you have external links, add those in. Is the "HVS Ltd, VP110" detail necessary? I'm wondering if these are details of one specific set-up of a water maze or if these items are standard for all who do this type of experiment? ProfJRL (talk) 23:44, 23 October 2016 (UTC)