Could you further specify what you mean by "independent from locomotion".

Do you mean the locomotion should have no effects on the results or the animal should be immobile?

In the former case Barnes maze or a radial maze with walls could be used.

In the latter case I could imagine the use of a virtual reality on a screen or around the animal arranged spacial cues it has to base its decisions on.

However, I have no idea how well these tests will work in mice compared to rats.

There is a new paradigm based on Morris water maze and it's called Water-Cross maze (WCM). The memory assessment and the acquisition are based on decisions (like in radial maze mentioned above) and not on path efficiency. It does include water exposure increasing the emotional component more then radial maze, but it is tested to be more hippocampus dependent and less locomotion dependent then the Morris water maze in mice. Details about the paradigms are explained in the attached article  

Article Hippocampus-dependent place learning enables spatial flexibi...

I second Christoph in saying a virtual reality system could help you dissociate spatial memory from locomotion. I saw the system set up by Georg Keller working; I think it is a nice one and easy to set up. They have a JOVE paper:

Leinweber M*, Zmarz P*, Argast P, Buchmann P, Hübener M, Bonhoeffer T, Keller GB (2014) Two-photon calcium imaging in mice navigating a virtual reality environment.

J Vis Exp 84:e50885, doi:10.3791/50885

Maybe you can try social transmission of food preference

(Posadas-Andrews A, Roper TJ (1983) Social transmission of food-preferences in adult rats. Animal Behaviour 31:265–271). 

Doesn't the Barne's maze work by having a lighted platform and dark holes?  I believe that this maze works on the principle that the animal prefers to escape from the aversive bright light on top (hence this test would have anxiety as an element).  It has been a while since I've tested animals, but I seem to remember that David (Olten) emphasized that there should be clear plexiglass doors that block the arms to the radial arm maze (that are quickly lowered and raised) to prevent the rats from using non hippocampal dependent strategies to solve the maze. 

Hi Stefano,

I've just noticed your question. If you mean that the performance should not be influenced by altered locomotion due to hyperactivity or coordination/gait problems, then you have several opportunities. My favorite is a test that we have developed for mice exactly with the purpose to analyze hippocampus-dependent spatial learning in a test that is not influenced by stress/anxiety and major motor functions. The unofficial name is Reeperbahn test, but we published it with the name "one-trial spatial learning test". It is very simple and works well in male mice as long as they do not have a massively altered social and sexual behavior. You do not need anything else than a modified open field arena, a camera and a tracking system. The test requires only two trials: one learning and one recall trial. The idea is to test whether the experimental mouse (e.g., a male) remember the location in an arena at which it experienced the presence of an unfamiliar female. The test works for testing both short-term and long-term memory as well as extinction and reversal learning. We published the test for the first time in 2010 (Meier et al., Hippocampus, 2010, 20:1027-1036.) but a complete description of it (as well as the validation of the role of the hippocampus) was published in 2013 (Fellini and Morellini F, J Neurosci, 2013. 33:1038-1043.). In the 2013 paper we also used this paradigm to test whether mice have episodic-like memories, something that had been shown before for other species but not yet for mice. The beauty of the test is also that the "spatial learning" occurs in one trial, a very important feature in terms of hippocampus function as well as "model" for human episodic memory.

Ciao,

Fabio

If you want to use both sexes, use the homecage and burrow some food in the sand. To make it spatial and not olfactory you can a) have two distinct odours randomly attached to the empty tube or the rewarded tube and keep location constant. Or b) don't use odours, hide (a non-smelly) food in a tube/box first above ground and then slowly so that they have to dig. Check next day where they dig (but no box/tube hidden). Since it is within the homecage and no new environment you have least possible anxiety or fear, and also locomotion requirement is markedly reduced. Just need to control for motivation, either food deprive or use a highly preferred food item and else feed them a bit with something they do not like so much (plain cooked rice)