Morris water navigation task: Difference between revisions

The '''Morris water navigation task''', also known as the '''Morris water maze''' (should not be confused with ''[[Water maze (neuroscience)|water maze]]''), is a behavioral procedure mostly used with rodents. It is widely used in [[behavioral neuroscience]] to study [[spatial memory|spatial learning and memory]].<ref name="Hooge2001">{{cite journal |last=D'Hooge |first=R |author2=De Deyn, PP |title=Applications of the Morris water maze in the study of learning and memory |journal=Brain Research. Brain Research Reviews |date=August 2001 |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=60–90 |pmid=11516773 |doi=10.1016/S0165-0173(01)00067-4}}</ref> It enables learning, memory, and spatial working to be studied with great accuracy, and can also be used to assess damage to particular cortical regions of the brain.<ref name="Hooge2001" /><ref name="Keefe1982">{{cite journal |last=O'Keefe |first=RG |author2=Garrud, P |author3=Rawlins, JN |author4= O'Keefe, J |title=Place navigation impaired in rats with hippocampal lesions |journal=Nature |date=Jun 24, 1982 |volume=297 |issue=5868 |pages=681–3 |pmid=7088155 |bibcode=1982Natur.297..681M |doi=10.1038/297681a0}}</ref> It is used by neuroscientists to measure the effect of neurocognitive disorders on spatial learning and possible neural treatments, to test the effect of lesions to the brain in areas concerned with memory, and to study how age influences cognitive function and spatial learning.<ref name="Hooge2001" /><ref name="Sharma2010" /> The task is also used as a tool to study drug-abuse, neural systems, neurotransmitters, and brain development.<ref name="Wongwitdecha1996" /><ref name="Mendez2008">{{cite journal |last=Mendez |first=IA |author2=Montgomery, KS |author3=LaSarge, CL |author4=Simon, NW |author5=Bizon, JL |author6= Setlow, B |title=Long-term effects of prior cocaine exposure on Morris water maze performance |journal=Neurobiology of Learning and Memory |date=February 2008 |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=185–91 |pmid=17904876 |doi=10.1016/j.nlm.2007.08.005 |pmc=2258220}}</ref>