Dear all
We have conducted Morris water maze test using mice of the neurodegenerative disease models. We want to repeat the test using the same mice. I'm wondering whether mice keep the memory of previous Morris water maze after 10 days. I'll appreciate your thoughts and advice about this concern. Thank you.
Yes, there are some studies that aimed to examine the neural correlates of remote (up to 30d) spatial memory in mice. Here are some examples:
https://www.jneurosci.org/content/jneuro/26/29/7555.full.pdf
Article Young hippocampal neurons are critical for recent and remote...
Article Recent and remote spatial memory in mice treated with cytosi...
Yes, you can test the mice after ten days. We get excellent performances (i.e., precise spatial preference for the target position) in transfer (probe) trials performed 10 days or two weeks after training in the water maze. As Shira wrote, spatial memory for the target position is still very good 30 days after training. But it can last even longer. We tested remote memory in male and female mice and we could still detect a spatial preference for the target/platform position two months after the last learning session. Best, Fabio
Hi Saroj Kumar Sah ,
It depends on the groups that you use (if Alzheimer's mouse model then animals may acquire the spatial memory in MWM but may not consolidate and retrieve the memory even after a short time). It also depends on the extent or stage of degeneration and the possible treatments that you administer, as well as the period of the drug/treatment administration (short-term or long-term administration of a neuroprotective agent or a higher dose and concentration of a treatment).
Studies using MWM or orbital maze have shown that sham and healthy rats may retrieve the memory even after a couple of months compared to AD rats. I have also observed in one of our studies that rats with lower escape latency had shown to retrieve the spatial memory significantly.