Radial-arm experiment maze

for animal researchfor micefor rats

The radial arm maze is a test for spatial, working, and reference learning and memory in rats and mice and allows for several sophisticated test protocols. For examples, animals might be learning the location of a food reward in one of the arms by relying on cues inside or outside the maze, or memorizing which turns to take from their starting point. When investigating working memory, all arms are usually provided with a reward and the animal should visit each arm only once. When used for assessing reference memory, only some of the arms contain a reward and the animal should only visit those baited arms. Visits to an arm more than once or visits to non-baited arms count as working memory errors or reference memory errors, respectively. Made to your specifications The Noldus radial arm mazes are available in standard sizes and colors, but are just as easily made to your specifications. All mazes are available in a cost-efficient package deal including a computer and a full EthoVision XT software license for video tracking. This license can also be used for video tracking and automation in other behavioral tests. Video tracking in a radial arm maze The radial arm maze is made out of grey acrylic or infrared translucent semi-transparent acrylic. As a result, the maze is easy to clean, and is suitable for video tracking experiment, with either normal light or the use of an IR backlight (and camera). The radial arm maze is optimized for video tracking and is ideally combined with EthoVision XT. EthoVision XT detects and tracks the center point, nose point, and tail base of mice and rats. This allows for the accurate measurement of an animal’s relative position.