Research Methods in Psychology Spring 2013, PSYC.314.010
I. A brief description of the Morris water maze task used to measure spatial navigation in rodents and
humans
II. BrainStorming 2.0
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water maze AND learning - 2,866 total hitsPubMed Search 2/25/05
The Morris water maze
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The Morris water mazePubMed Search 2/25/05
PubMed Search 2/25/05The Morris water maze
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water maze AND learning - 2,866 total hits
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The Morris water maze
The Morris water maze
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Standard Water Maze Setup
Submergedplatform
# Quadrant1
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4Start points
Target Annulus
L Zone
Water level
CBA
Non-targetAnnuli
Dependent MeasuresPlace learning (acquisition)
Escape latency – time (sec) to reach the platformDistance – length (cm) of swim pathHeading angle – deviation (deg) from a direct pathCumulative distance – cumulative average deviation (proximity to the
goal in cm) from a direct pathProbe test – spatial memory (retention)
Quadrant time – % time (sec) in each quadrant
Annulus crossings – number of passes through target and non-targetannuli (= or 2x surface area of platform)
Proximity – average distance (cm) from target and non-targetannuli
Distance – path length (cm) in each quadrant
Thigmotaxis – swimming near wall – % time (sec) in outer zoneGeneral performance measures
Swim speed – cm/sec
Place Task
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8 trials/day - 60 sec
4 trials/day - 30 secPlace Learning
http://pages.towson.edu/bdevan/videos.htm
Trial 40 of place navigation for a control rat
Controls (8 trials/day, 60 sec TTI)
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cabinetstorage
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blindsFigure 1. Schematic showing the pool and configuration of cues present for the probe test in room 500 B. The platform was formerly positioned at location 1 (blue circle). Location 2 represents the goal position relative to the door/entrance in the previous room (500 A). Also note that location 4 is close to the door while location 3 is closest to the experimenter. These locations are also near the west start point.
The experimenter – really looks like Morris!
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Figure 2. Results for initial place acquisition in room 500 A. There were no significant differences in escape latency, cumulative distance, swim speed or absolute heading error.
Probe Test
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Figure 3. Compared to males, females demonstrated a more accurate absolute heading to the goal location on the probe test following latent learning in the second room (500 B).
Heading Error
90o~50o
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Quadrant 4
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Figure 6. Time bin analysis of preference scores for quadrant 1 (top) and quadrant 4 (bottom). Females show less persistence in preference for quadrant 1, where the goal was formerly located, across time bins. Females also show a stable greater preference for quadrant 4, near the door/entrance relative to males.
Saline
Vardenafil
Swim paths of aged rats on retention probe test
Long-term retention probe
Hea
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AGE (group)
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Vardenafil in pre-trained aged rats
Sex difference• has been attributed to a difference in strategy use
• Females use local cues and geometry (e.g. pool wall)
• Males use distal cues• This results in a male advantage in new learning
(sometimes)• However a female advantage occurs after pretraining• Females also tend to do better on a DMP task (multi-
tasking?)
Hypothesis - females may use distal cues (when they’re not so distal at the edge of the pool) to identify start points and plan subsequent egocentric responses leading directly to the goal.
New hypothesis (i.e., wild speculation)
Start point views of the virtual water maze
Panoramic view of cues from center of the virtual WM
‘Sex difference virtual water maze’ search on PubMed
Sex & Drugs: So let’s rock ‘n roll with a novel study
Two video clips to get you thinking…
Strategies: different ways to solve the same problem – distal vs local cuesMultitasking: keeping track of different start pointsPersistence: males are persistent in searching a no-longer valid goalHormone activation: estrogen vs testosterone (interactions with stress hormones)Hormone organization: fetal exposure to sex hormones in Utero may influence sexual differentiation of the brain. 4th to 2nd finger length ratio is related to the early exposure to testosterone.