Measuring Behavior 2005: Symposia

SYMPOSIUM

Innovative use of the water maze to assess neurocognitive abilities in laboratory rodents

ORGANIZED BY:

Rudi D'Hooge

(University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium)

The water maze was described by Richard Morris more than twenty years ago to assess spatial learning and memory in laboratory rats. In the meanwhile, it has become one of the most frequently used laboratory tools in contemporary behavioural neuroscience. Many methodological variations of the task have been and are being used by research groups in many different applications. Novel training protocols and measuring procedures have been proposed, and water maze performance has been related to various experimental manipulations. The symposium will address some of these innovative variations of the task and their contribution to our understanding of the neurobiological of learning and memory. The speakers will illustrate the continuing value of the water maze and its technical variations, but will also stress the continuing need for methodological innovation and alternative approaches.

Speakers:

Rudi D'Hooge (University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium). Introduction.

Per Dahlqvist (Umeå University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden). Enriched environment reverse learning impairment after focal cerebral ischemia in rats.

Laura Mandolesi (IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy). A new paradigm to analyze observational learning in rats.

Etienne Save (University Aix-Marseille, Marseille, France). Using distal and proximal cues in the water maze: strategies and neural bases.

Ales Stuchlik (Academy of Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic). Application of variants of the Place Avoidance task as alternatives to the Morris Water Maze in the study of spatial cognition in rodents.

Last updated: 19 October 2005