Probe Test
Objective: Assess memory retention by measuring time spent in the target quadrant where the platform was previously located during a 60-second probe test
This is a Probe Test protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 5 procedural steps, 3 equipment items, 1 materials. Extracted from a 2007 paper published in PLoS Biology.
Model and subjects
rat • Sprague-Dawley • male • Three-month-old
Study window
~2 day study window | ~1 minutes hands-on
Core workflow
Pre-training habituation • Water maze training trials • Probe test
Primary readouts
- Time spent in target quadrant during probe test
- Latency to reach platform during training trials
- Latency to reach visible platform during cued test
- Swim path characteristics during probe test
Key equipment and reagents
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Protocol Steps
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Pre-training habituation
Animals habituated to the pool before start of training
Note: Habituation period precedes formal training
View evidence from paper
“Before the start of the training, the animals were habituated to the pool for 2 d for 1 min/d”
Water maze training trials
Learning group animals required to locate submerged platform using spatial cues available in testing room. Four trials per day from three different randomly varied start points. If animal does not find platform, it is placed on platform at end of trial.
Note: Start points varied randomly each day. Latency to reach platform collected via video tracking system.
View evidence from paper
“four trials per day (90 s with an intertrial interval of 30 s and beginning from three different start points that varied randomly each day). If an animal did not find the platform, it was set on it at the end of the trial”
Probe test
Memory retention assessed by measuring time spent in target quadrant where platform was previously located. Platform removed during this test.
Note: This is the primary measure of spatial memory retention
View evidence from paper
“For the probe test (60 s), performances were assessed by the time spent in the target quadrant where the platform was previously located”
Cued test
Performance assessed by latency to reach visible platform located in different quadrant than nonvisible platform used during training
Note: Control test to assess sensorimotor abilities independent of spatial memory
View evidence from paper
“For the cued test (90 s), performances were assessed by the latency to reach the visible platform located in a different quadrant than the one used for the nonvisible platform”
Swim path analysis
Detailed analysis of swim paths made to reach platform location during probe test performed using Wintrack software
Note: Post-hoc analysis of probe test performance
View evidence from paper
“Detailed analysis of swim paths made to reach the platform location during the probe test was performed using the Wintrack software”