Open Field Cages for Mice and Rats, ideal for videotracking
Features
- High-contrast colors
- Non-reflecting surface
- Ample color selection
- Reasonably rough “warm” surface texture
- Quality materials
Benefits
- Gives optimal results with any Video-Tracking software
- Guarantees optimal camera view and no glare
- Available in grey (standard), blue, white, black, custom color
- Selected for best rodent comfort, non-slippery
- Reliable and durable mazes, easy to clean and store
Application
The radial arm maze is a test which can be used for several sophisticated protocols to study spatial, working, and reference learning and memory. The animal can rely on egocentric or allocentric (cues outside of the maze) strategies and working versus reference memory can be assessed by adopting intra- or intertrial protocols.
It is an appetitive test and in fact the motivation for the animal (mice or rats) is to find a food reward in one or more arms. For example, the visit of each arm only once within a trial, indicates a good working memory, while visits to non-baited arms indicate errors in reference memory.
In short, the many variants of the radial arm maze allow the experimenter to assess spatial memory in mice and rats by measuring the avoidance of re-entry in already visited and non-baited arms. Both intra-maze and external cues can be used and optional feeders or doors can be added to the maze to separate the central arena from the arms and deliver the reward only when the task has been completed.