Slime Mold Y-Maze
Behavioral maze for studying decision-making and chemotaxis in slime molds and unicellular organisms through controlled binary choice experiments.
Louise Corscadden, PhD
Director of Science · ConductScience
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Key Specifications
Full details →- Model fit
- Configured during quote
- SKU family
- CS-958166
- Shipping box
- 65.0 x 36.0 x 27.0 cm
- Ordering
- Online checkout and quote request available
- Category
- Behavioral Mazes
- Build notes
- Confirm accessories, station layout, and support needs before purchase
The Slime Mold Y-Maze is a specialized behavioral apparatus designed for studying decision-making, chemotaxis, and spatial navigation in slime molds (Physarum polycephalum) and other unicellular organisms. This simple yet effective maze configuration presents organisms with binary choice scenarios, enabling researchers to investigate primitive learning behaviors, chemical gradient responses, and adaptive pathfinding mechanisms at the cellular level.
The Y-shaped design creates two distinct pathways from a common starting point, allowing controlled presentation of environmental stimuli, nutrient gradients, or chemical attractants/repellents. This apparatus supports investigations into the computational abilities of non-neural organisms and provides insights into the evolutionary origins of decision-making processes.
How It Works
The Y-maze operates on the principle of binary choice presentation, where organisms encounter a decision point that branches into two distinct pathways. The maze configuration allows researchers to establish controlled environmental conditions along each arm, including nutrient gradients, chemical stimuli, or physical barriers. Organisms placed at the entry point must navigate toward one of two endpoints, revealing their decision-making processes and environmental preferences.
For slime mold studies, the apparatus enables investigation of chemotactic responses, where Physarum polycephalum extends pseudopodia to explore both pathways before committing resources to the more favorable route. The organism's plasmodial network can evaluate multiple environmental parameters simultaneously, demonstrating computational abilities without neural structures. Researchers can quantify pathway selection, exploration time, and network formation patterns to assess learning and adaptation mechanisms.
Features & Benefits
Add-ons and modifications
| Add-on | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Slime Mold Y-maze | $990 | Length of start area: 1cm Width of start area: 1cm Length of choice arm: 4cm Diameter of goals for food: 1.2cm Agar substrate: 1% |
Add any of these to your quote request.
Behavioral Construct
- decision-making
- chemotaxis
- spatial navigation
- learning
Automation Level
- manual
Research Domain
- Behavioral Pharmacology
- Cell Biology
- Developmental Biology
- Microbiology
- Neuroscience
Compatible Tracking Software
- ConductVision
Shipping weight
- 6.06 lb
Shipping box
- L: 65.0 cm
- W: 36.0 cm
- H: 27.0 cm
| Feature | This Product | Typical Alternative | Advantage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pathway Configuration | Binary Y-shaped design with single decision point | Multi-arm radial mazes offer more pathway options | Eliminates complex navigation variables, focusing analysis on pure binary decision-making processes. |
| Experimental Control | Equal arm dimensions for unbiased choice presentation | Open-field designs lack defined choice pathways | Enables controlled comparison of environmental stimuli without spatial bias factors. |
| Organism Compatibility | Suitable for unicellular organisms and small invertebrates | Large animal mazes require different scaling | Optimized dimensions and surface properties for microscopic behavioral studies. |
| Observation Access | Open design for continuous visual monitoring | Enclosed systems may limit observation capabilities | Facilitates real-time documentation of exploration patterns and decision sequences. |
This Y-maze provides a focused platform for binary choice experiments with excellent observational access and standardized environmental control. The simple design eliminates confounding navigation variables while maintaining rigorous experimental conditions for cellular behavioral studies.
Practical Tips
Equilibrate maze and experimental materials to room temperature before organism introduction to prevent thermal gradient artifacts.
Why: Temperature differences can create unintended chemotactic stimuli that confound decision-making analysis.
Inspect maze surfaces for microscopic damage or residue buildup that could affect organism movement patterns.
Why: Surface irregularities can create preferential pathways that bias experimental outcomes.
Conduct pilot trials without stimuli to establish baseline pathway selection preferences for each organism batch.
Why: Individual organism variability requires control data to distinguish experimental effects from natural preferences.
Use positive and negative control conditions with known attractants or repellents to validate maze performance.
Why: Control responses confirm that the experimental setup can detect meaningful behavioral differences.
If organisms remain at entry point without exploration, reduce stimulus concentrations or check for environmental stress factors.
Why: Over-stimulation or adverse conditions can inhibit natural exploratory behaviors essential for decision-making studies.
Use appropriate containment protocols when working with microorganisms to prevent laboratory contamination.
Why: Proper biosafety measures protect both experimental integrity and laboratory safety standards.
Setup Guide
What’s in the Box
- Y-maze apparatus (typical)
- User manual and experimental protocols (typical)
- Cleaning and maintenance instructions (typical)
Warranty
ConductScience provides standard manufacturer warranty coverage with technical support for apparatus functionality and experimental protocol guidance.
Compliance
References
Background reading relevant to this product:
Protocol and background
Introduction
The Slime Mold Y-maze is utilized in evaluating problem-solving and decision-making behaviors of the unicellular slime mold. The maze uses the same concept as the traditional Y- and T-Mazes used in the evaluation of learning and memory of animals such as rodents (Rodent Y-maze and Rodent T-maze), pigs (Pig T-maze) and fish (Zebrafish Y-maze and Salmon Y-Maze).
The traditional understanding of learning implies that a nervous system is required for an animal to be able to learn. However, numerous studies have shown learning as well as efficient decision-making capabilities in the nonneuronal, reactive organism, the slime mold (Reid, Garnier, Beekman, & Latty, 2015). The Slime Mold Y-maze allows a simple, yet complex environment to assess the learning capabilities of the organism. The maze provides a two-choice set-up that narrows the decision-making process for the slime mold, thereby decreasing the number of parameters involved during data analysis. The maze can be adapted to evaluate behaviors such as foraging under different conditions (such as light versus dark or high versus low-quality food). Other investigatory areas can include observation of preference behaviors in plasmodia that exhibit fusing with other genetically similar and compatible plasmodia.
The Slime Mold Y-maze consists of a start arena that allows entry to two choice arms. Each choice arm is equipped with a goal end that can be used for placing of rewards or stimuli.
Apparatus and Equipment
The Slime Mold Y-maze is composed of 1 cm × 1 cm start area that allows that leads to two choice arms. Each choice arm is 4 cm in length with a 1.2 cm diameter goals that can be used to place food. The maze uses 1% agar substrate.
Training Protocol
Ensure that substrates used are not contaminated with unintended stimuli. Experimental conditions should be maintained throughout the task to prevent unintended influences. Task observations can be assisted by the use of tracking and recording system such as the Noldus EthoVision XT.
Avoidance Response Task (Extracellular Slime vs. Blank Trail)
Obtain extracellular slime by allowing a culture of slime mold, from the same stock being tested, to migrate (8 to 12 hours) across a 1% agar surface. Place the agar with the extracellular slime trail in one of the Y-Maze arms. Place blank agar in the other arm. Reward the ends of each arm with food such as oats. Place 3 cm2 of plasmodial in the start area and begin observation. Alternate the arm containing the slime trail between replicates.
Protocols can vary depending on the investigatory aims.
Evaluation of externalized spatial memory-based navigation in slime mold
Reid, Latty, Dussutour, and Beekman (2012) evaluated the decision-making behaviors of the physarum polycephalum plasmodia when encountered with a path that exhibited the previous exploration versus a blank path. The plasmodia were placed in the start area of the Y-Maze with both choice arms leading to identical food sources (10% wt/vol powdered oat-agar) at their ends. One of the choice arms was trailed with extracellular slime obtained from conspecifics while the other consisted of only plain agar. Of the 40 plasmodia tested, 39 chose the blank path suggesting a strong preference for unexplored pathways. However, when both paths were covered with extracellular slime, plasmodia showed no preference for either path. Additionally, no left or right bias was observed when the organism was tested in agar only set-up. Based on the observations, it was concluded that the presence of extracellular slime trail influences the decision of the plasmodia only when a choice is available. Further, the behaviors also suggested that the plasmodia are able to sense and use the presence of the extracellular slime as an externalized spatial memory system to differentiate between explored and unexplored areas.
Data Analysis
The following parameters can be observed in the Slime Mold Y-maze,
- Distance covered
- Percentage of plasmodia that reach the goal
- Selection of the correct arm
- Selection of the incorrect arm
- Speed with which the goal was reached
- Split decisions (both goals reached by the organism at the same time)
- Time taken to reach the goal
- Time spent in the start area
Strengths and Limitations
The Slime Mold Y-maze offers a simple design that serves as a complex test environment for slime mold. Behaviors such as decision-making and problem-solving can be effectively assessed using the Y-Maze. The two-choice set-up simplifies the analysis of performances; however, a limited number of choices may not be suitable for all learning-based experiments. The maze can be adapted to for exploration of other experimental aims such as preference testing and effects of different path compositions or environments on slime mold behavior.
The slime mold behaviors can be influenced by the presence of unintended chemical cues in the maze. Slime mold displays an averseness for bright lights, and hence appropriate lighting set-up should be used during experimentation.
Summary
- The Slime Mold Y-maze is used in the assessment of problem-solving and decision-making behaviors of slime mold.
- The Y-Maze serves as a complex environment for slime mold despite its simplistic design.
- Slime mold display avoidance behaviors towards cues such as extracellular slime and bright lights, which can be used to manipulate the Y-maze environment during the task.
- The Slime Mold Y-maze can easily be adapted for different experimental protocols.
- Presence of unintended chemical cues within the maze can affect slime mold performances.
References
- Reid, C. R., Garnier, S., Beekman, M., & Latty, T. (2015). Information integration and multiattribute decision making in non-neuronal organisms. Animal Behaviour, 100, 44–50. doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2014.11.010
- Reid, C. R., Latty, T., Dussutour, A., & Beekman, M. (2012). Slime mold uses an externalized spatial “memory” to navigate in complex environments. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(43), 17490–17494. doi:10.1073/pnas.1215037109
From the Maze Engineers documentation for this apparatus.
What organism types are compatible with this maze design?
The maze accommodates slime molds, bacteria, small invertebrates, and other organisms capable of navigating physical pathways. Organism size should be appropriate for maze dimensions.
How do I establish chemical gradients along maze arms?
Chemical stimuli can be placed at arm endpoints or integrated into substrate materials. Consult protocols for specific gradient establishment techniques for your target organism.
What cleaning protocols prevent cross-contamination between trials?
Use organism-appropriate disinfectants followed by thorough rinsing and drying. UV sterilization may be suitable for some applications depending on maze materials.
Can the maze be modified for specific experimental requirements?
Basic modifications like barrier placement or surface treatments may be possible. Consult technical specifications before making structural alterations.
What environmental controls are necessary during experiments?
Maintain stable temperature, humidity, and lighting appropriate for target organisms. Minimize vibrations and air currents that could influence movement patterns.
How do I quantify and analyze organism decision-making data?
Record pathway selection, exploration time, and movement patterns. Statistical analysis should account for multiple trials and control conditions to establish significance.
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