Source Paper
Hippocampal representation in place learning
H Eichenbaum, C Stewart, RG Morris
Journal of Neuroscience • 1990
Probe Testing
Objective: To assess the flexibility and representation of learned spatial information by examining performance when cues or starting positions are altered in a water maze task
This is a Probe Testing protocol using rat as the model organism. The procedure involves 3 procedural steps, 1 equipment items. Extracted from a 1990 paper published in Journal of Neuroscience.
Model and subjects
rat • Not specified • unknown • Not specified • Not specified
Study window
Estimated timing pending
Core workflow
Initial Training Phase • Post-criterion Testing - Probe Tests with Altered Cues • Post-criterion Testing - Probe Tests with Altered Starting Position
Primary readouts
- Escape latency to reach minimum times
- Escape performance accuracy
- Frequency of near misses
- Performance when cues are altered
Key equipment and reagents
Verified items
0
Direct vendor links
0
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Protocol Steps
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Initial Training Phase
Subjects trained to form an association between the place of escape and a particular navigational route in the open-field water maze
Note: Both normal rats and FX rats acquired this task rapidly, although FX rats were slightly slower in achieving minimum escape latencies
View evidence from paper
“Both normal rats and rats with fornix lesions (FX rats) acquired this task rapidly, although FX rats were slightly slower in achieving minimum escape latencies”
Post-criterion Testing - Probe Tests with Altered Cues
After reaching criterion, subjects undergo probe tests where distal cues are altered to assess flexibility of spatial representation
Note: FX rats' representation was inflexible and could not be used to guide performance when cues were altered, unlike normal rats
View evidence from paper
“Results from a variety of probe tests indicated that FX rats, like normal rats, had based their performance on a representation of multiple distal cues but their representation, unlike that of normal rats, was inflexible in that it could not be used to guide performance when the cues or starting position were altered”
Post-criterion Testing - Probe Tests with Altered Starting Position
Probe tests where the starting position is changed to assess whether learned spatial information can guide performance from novel locations
Note: FX rats showed inflexible representation that could not be used when starting position was altered
View evidence from paper
“it could not be used to guide performance when the cues or starting position were altered”