Morris Water Maze Experiment

In the Morris water maze, animals are placed in pools of water where they must swim to an escape platform. During training, the platform can be exposed about one inch above the water. The animal must learn to swim to the platform and remain there to be rescued from the pool.

After the animal is trained, the water is increased and made opaque with milk or non-toxic paint. So the platform is hidden. The animal must then rely on memory to find the escape platform.

Hi, my name is Joseph Nunez. I'm a faculty member in the neuroscience program at Michigan State University. Today I'll be demonstrating the Morris Water Mae.

I'm gonna be showing you how to set up the Mae, how to train the animals, and how to test the animals. Okay, let's get started. The main component of the water maze setup should be a round pool, about six feet in diameter and about three feet deep.

If you are recording the task with a video camera, make sure all, all sides of the maze are within the camera's field of view. Fill up the water maze with tap water, which should be close to 26 degrees Celsius. This may take several hours, so it should be done well in advance.

Periodically check the water temperature so it's it's plus or minus one degree of 26 degrees Celsius. Place the escape platform in the center of the pool. During training, it can be exposed about one inch above the water.

This teaches the rat. There is a platform, and that is the way to get outta the water. Now we're ready to begin the training of the animals in the water maze.

The water maze has four starting positions, north, south, east, or west. Take the animal to one of these positions. Lower the animal to the water by supporting it with your hand and bring you down gently into the water tail end.

First, do not stress the animal out by dunking its head in the water. Let the animal swim around for a maximum of 60 seconds. At first, the animal may swim around the edges of the pool looking for a way out.

Eventually, the animal will reach a platform and climb up. Once the rodent reaches the platform, stop the timer and record the time. If it doesn't find the platform in 60 seconds, then record the time for the trial.

As one minute. Do not pick up the animal. If it fails to reach the platform, teach it that it must swim to the platform.

Rather gently guide the animal to the platform with your hand. Let the animal sit for 15 seconds. If it falls or jumps off, gently guide it back.

This will train the animal that it must stay on the platform to be rescued from the pool. Repeat the same procedure for two more trials, starting at a different location for each. Once the must completed, all three trials dried off with a towel.

Repeat the three trial training process for all the animals. Keep the directions the same for all of them, and record their times. Now that the animals are trained, they're ready to perform the water maze test.

To begin the experimental trials of the water Mae, finish filling up the tank. So the platform is about one inch below the surface of the water. Use non-fat dry milk or non-toxic white temperate to make the water opaque.

The lighting and water temperature should be the same as in the training process. Each animal undergo 12 trials, three from each starting direction. Each trial will last 60 seconds.

Before beginning. Choose the order of the starting directions. Do not use the same starting directions twice in a row, and also do not repeat the same order for any of the directions.

Track the animal until it reaches a platform and record the time it took. If the animal doesn't reach the platform of 60 seconds, the handler will guide it to the platform as in the training. Either way, let the animal sit for 10 seconds, then dry it off.

Continue with each animal for all 12 trials with the animal handler returning to the same designated spot During each trial, directly clean out the pool, make sure the platform is in it place and check the water temperature is the same. You can use the smart video tracking software system to detect and analyze behavior during the testing trials. So that's it.

I'll shown you how to train the animals and test the animals. This is a very well established behavior paradigm. Well, good luck with the experiments.