Source Paper
Severity of spatial learning impairment in aging: Development of a learning index for performance in the Morris water maze.
Michela Gallagher, Rebecca Burwell, Margaret Burchinal
Behavioral Neuroscience • 2015
Morris Water Maze
Objective: Assess the rat's ability to learn to navigate to a specific location in a relatively large spatial environment, with analysis of spatial distribution of search patterns during training and probe trial performance
This is a Morris Water Maze protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 4 procedural steps, 2 equipment items. Extracted from a 2015 paper published in Behavioral Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Long-Evans • male • young and aged
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Morris Water Maze Training • Probe Trial Performance • Proximity Measure Analysis
Primary readouts
- Spatial distribution of rat's search during training trials
- Spatial distribution of rat's search during probe trials
- Proximity to target location
- Age-related impairment severity
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.
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- 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.
Morris Water Maze Training
Rats are trained to navigate to a specific location in the water maze
Note: Training trials are conducted to assess spatial learning ability
View evidence from paper
“The Morris water maze task was originally designed to assess the rat's ability to learn to navigate to a specific location in a relatively large spatial environment”
Probe Trial Performance
Probe trials are conducted to assess retention and spatial memory
Note: Probe trial performance is analyzed for spatial distribution of search patterns
View evidence from paper
“This article describes new measures that provide information about the spatial distribution of the rat's search during both training and probe trial performance”
Proximity Measure Analysis
Computer tracking is used to calculate proximity measure - the rat's position with respect to the target location
Note: This proximity measure was found to be highly sensitive to age-related impairment
View evidence from paper
“This proximity measure was found to be highly sensitive to age-related impairment in an assessment of young and aged male Long-Evans rats”
Learning Index Development
A learning index is calculated to provide a continuous, graded measure of the severity of age-related impairment
Note: The learning index is useful for correlational analyses with neurobiological or behavioral measures
View evidence from paper
“Also described is the development of a learning index that provides a continuous, graded measure of the severity of age-related impairment in the task”