Source Paper
Exercise Enhances Learning and Hippocampal Neurogenesis in Aged Mice
Henriette van Praag, Tiffany Shubert, Chunmei Zhao, Fred H. Gage
Journal of Neuroscience • 2005
Morris Water Maze
Objective: To assess learning and memory through spatial navigation acquisition and retention in the Morris water maze after 1 month of voluntary wheel running or sedentary housing in aged and young mice
This is a Morris Water Maze protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 3 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 3 materials. Extracted from a 2005 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
mouse • Not specified • unknown • Young mice and aged mice (19 months old at start of housing) • Not specified
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Housing assignment • Cell labeling • Morris water maze testing
Primary readouts
- Acquisition speed in Morris water maze
- Retention performance in Morris water maze
- Hippocampal neurogenesis levels
- Fine morphology of new neurons
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
Confirm first
- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
Use the page like this
- Work through the protocol steps in order and use the inline vendor chips only when you need to source or verify an item.
- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
Start here. The step list is optimized for running the experiment, with direct vendor links available inline when you need to source a cited item.
Housing assignment
Young and aged mice were assigned to housing conditions with or without a running wheel
Note: Aged mice were 19 months old at the start of housing
View evidence from paper
“young and aged mice were housed with or without a running wheel”
Cell labeling
Mice were injected with bromodeoxyuridine or retrovirus to label newborn cells
Note: Timing of injections relative to housing period not specified
View evidence from paper
“injected with bromodeoxyuridine or retrovirus to label newborn cells”
Morris water maze testing
After 1 month of housing, learning was tested in the Morris water maze
Note: Testing assessed both acquisition and retention of spatial navigation
View evidence from paper
“After 1 month, learning was tested in the Morris water maze”