Working and spatial memory test in a radial-arm maze task
The eight-armed radial arm maze from UGO Basile was used to test working
and spatial memory. The mice were acclimatized to the maze for three
days before the experiment. For testing the spatial and the working
memory, separate set of mice were used. Each mouse was trained to
navigate the maze for three consecutive days. The mouse was placed on
the end of one arm (entry arm). For working memory, a food reward (100
mg of chocolate cookies) was placed at the end of four randomly selected
arms. The movement of mice was tracked with the help of automated
AnyMaze software connected with a tracking camera. A choice was
considered correct if the mice entered an arm containing the food
reward. Similarly, for spatial memory tasks, one arm out of eight was
baited with a food reward, and various parameters were recorded.