Radial Arm Maze

The radial arm maze (RAM) is an eight-arm apparatus used to assess both working memory and reference memory in a single testing session. In the standard protocol, a subset of arms is baited with food rewards, and the animal must visit all baited arms without revisiting any. Re-entries into already-visited baited arms constitute working memory errors, while entries into never-baited arms constitute reference memory errors — allowing simultaneous, independent measurement of two distinct memory systems.

This dual-error dissociation makes the RAM uniquely informative: working memory errors reflect trial-specific, rapidly decaying information held online (prefrontal cortex and hippocampus-dependent), while reference memory errors reflect failure to learn the fixed rule about which arms are baited (hippocampus and basal forebrain-dependent). Pharmacological and lesion studies have shown that cholinergic blockade impairs both error types, while hippocampal lesions preferentially impair working memory.

ConductMaze automates the radial arm maze through sensors at each arm entrance that detect entries and exits, motorized guillotine doors for controlled arm access, and automated reward dispensers at arm ends. The software scores working and reference memory errors in real time, manages arm-baiting patterns, and supports configurable delay intervals for delayed working memory variants.