Behavioral model for assessing cognitive decline.
The water maze task can be used to assess sensory motor and cognitive function in rodents. When properly employed, this task can behaviorally assess acquisition of a spatial search strategy, as well as working and reference memory. The following section uses research on age-related, cognitive decline to illustrate the methods employed and highlight areas that can, if not properly controlled, confound a study.
Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Proteomics, and Biomarkers, Munich, Germany.
Michael
M
Guidi
Thomas C
TC
Foster
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D060825:Cognitive Dysfunction / Q000523:psychology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006624:Hippocampus; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory; D051381:Rats; D013315:Stress, Psychological