Morris Water Maze

The Morris water maze (MWM) is the most widely cited behavioral test for hippocampal-dependent spatial learning and memory in rodents. The subject is placed in a circular pool of opaque water and must use distal visual cues to navigate to a hidden escape platform submerged just below the water surface. Over repeated acquisition trials (typically 4 trials/day for 4-5 days), the animal learns the platform location, demonstrated by decreasing escape latency and increasingly direct swim paths.

The probe trial — conducted after acquisition by removing the platform — is the critical test of spatial memory: animals with intact hippocampal function spend significantly more time in the target quadrant (where the platform was located) than in other quadrants, and show focused searching (platform crossings) near the former platform location. The MWM is uniquely powerful because it is relatively immune to non-spatial strategies; the circular pool and opaque water eliminate intramaze cues, forcing reliance on allocentric spatial representations.

ConductMaze interfaces with overhead video tracking to record swim paths in real time, computing escape latency, path length, swim speed, thigmotaxis (wall-hugging), and quadrant-specific measures during probe trials. The software supports multiple protocol variants including reversal learning (platform relocation), visible platform controls, and cued navigation, with automated trial management and inter-trial interval timing.