title: Navigating to new frontiers in behavioral neuroscience: traditional neuropsychological tests predict human performance on a rodent-inspired radial-arm maze.
abstract: We constructed an 11-arm, walk-through, human radial-arm maze (HRAM) as a translational instrument to compare existing methodology in the areas of rodent and human learning and memory research. The HRAM, utilized here, serves as an intermediary test between the classic rat radial-arm maze (RAM) and standard human neuropsychological and cognitive tests. We show that the HRAM is a useful instrument to examine working memory ability, explore the relationships between rodent and human memory and cognition models, and evaluate factors that contribute to human navigational ability. One-hundred-and-fifty-seven participants were tested on the HRAM, and scores were compared to performance on a standard cognitive battery focused on episodic memory, working memory capacity, and visuospatial ability. We found that errors on the HRAM increased as working memory demand became elevated, similar to the pattern typically seen in rodents, and that for this task, performance appears similar to Miller's classic description of a processing-inclusive human working memory capacity of 7 ± 2 items. Regression analysis revealed that measures of working memory capacity and visuospatial ability accounted for a large proportion of variance in HRAM scores, while measures of episodic memory and general intelligence did not serve as significant predictors of HRAM performance. We present the HRAM as a novel instrument for measuring navigational behavior in humans, as is traditionally done in basic science studies evaluating rodent learning and memory, thus providing a useful tool to help connect and translate between human and rodent models of cognitive functioning.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Sarah E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Mennenga
authors.affiliation: Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA ; Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Leslie C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Baxter
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Itamar S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Grunfeld
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Gene A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Brewer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Leona S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Aiken
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Engler-Chiurazzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Bryan W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Camp
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Jazmin I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Acosta
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA ; Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: B Blair
authors.initials: BB
authors.lastname: Braden
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Keley R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Schaefer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Julia E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Gerson
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Courtney N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Lavery
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Candy W S
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Tsang
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Hewitt
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Melissa L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kingston
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Stephanie V
authors.initials: SV
authors.lastname: Koebele
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: K Jakob
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Patten
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: B Hunter
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Ball
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Michael K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: McBeath
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arizona State University , Tempe, AZ, USA ; Arizona Alzheimer's Consortium , Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: Heather A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Bimonte-Nelson
keywords: cognition; human; memory; neuropsychological test; rodent; working memory