Abstract

The Morris Water Maze (MWM) behavioral test is a universal method for testing cognitive functions in experimental rodents, and it is especially effective in detecting deviations in memory functions and learning, which makes it indispensable in a study of aging, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, effects of therapeutic drugs, and so on. However, this test can be a far more informative tool for analyzing the behavior of experimental animals than it seems at first glance. The formation and consolidation of memory, as well as learning, are quite complex processes that mainly involve the hippocampus but, in addition, many other brain areas. The numerous MWM protocols are so sensitive to changes in functioning of different, not only hippocampal, brain areas that they can be used as an “indicator” of normal cognitive function. Thus, MWM modifications involve different mechanisms of navigation, learning and memory, and the results of these tests, as well as their correct interpretation, can give a lot more information about the behavior of tested animals. Here, we survey most popular methods for conducting the MWM procedure and discuss those informative parameters that can help analyze the results of this test.

中文翻译：

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行为测试“莫里斯水迷宫”的可能性和前景

摘要

莫里斯水迷宫（MWM）行为测试是测试啮齿动物认知功能的通用方法，对检测记忆功能和学习的偏差特别有效，这在研究衰老，中风，神经退行性疾病，治疗药物的效果等。但是，与乍看之下相比，该测试可以成为分析实验动物行为的更为有用的工具。记忆的形成和巩固，以及学习，是相当复杂的过程，主要涉及海马体，但此外还涉及许多其他大脑区域。众多的MWM协议对不仅是海马区的不同大脑区域的功能变化都非常敏感，以至于它们可以用作正常认知功能的“指标”。因此，MWM修改涉及导航，学习和记忆的不同机制，这些测试的结果以及正确的解释可以提供有关被测动物行为的更多信息。在这里，我们调查了进行MWM程序的最流行的方法，并讨论了可以帮助分析该测试结果的信息性参数。