Morris water maze performance

Socci DJ, Sanberg PR, Arendash GW. (1995). Nicotine enhances Morris water maze performance of young and aged rats. Neurobiol Aging. 16(5) 857-60. 

Wainwright, P.E., Xing, H.C., Girard, T., Parker, L., and Ward, G.R. (1998) Effects of Dietary n-3 Fatty Acid Deficiency on Morris Water-Maze Performance and Amphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference in Rats, Nutr. Neurosci. 1,281-293. 

Jett DA, Kuhlmann AC, Farmer SJ, et al. 1997. Age-dependent effects of developmental lead exposure on performance in the Morris water maze. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 57(l-2) 271-279. 

Quartermain et al. 1993, 1994 Rowan et al. 1990 Winter and Petti 1987). Also, low doses of gepirone and atropine, which individually fail to modify rat performance in a spatial task, when administered together impair performance [Barrett and Rowan 1990]. Similarly, the selection of a single dose of MDL 73,005EF that did not impair the acquisition or recall of a task in the Morris water maze enhanced the deficits caused by gepirone or atropine [Barrett and Rowan 1992]. 

Fontaine R, Ontiveros A, Ehe R, et al A double-blind comparison of nefazadone, imipramine and placebo in major depression. J Clin Psychiatry 55 234-241, 1994 Fontana DJ, Daniels SE, Flenderson C, et al Ondansetron improves cognitive performance in the Morris water maze spatial navigation task. Psychopharmacology 120 409-417, 1995... 

Mice with abnormally poor or abnormally good cognitive abilities may produce aberrant behavior in this test (e.g., increased or decreased social interaction, respectively). To rule out this possibility, consider testing mice in some additional memory paradigms. Memory tests, such as the Morris Water Maze and OFT habituation, may be performed to assess cognitive functions in any abnormally behaving mouse. 

Pitsikas N, Brambilla A, Borsini F. DAU 6215, a novel 5-HT3 receptor antagonist, improves performance in the aged rat in the Morris water maze task. Neurobiol Aging 1993 14 561-564. 

Several other behavioral abnormalities have also been described in 5-HT2C-R KOs. These mice display several types of repetitive behavior that have been likened to compulsions (110). 5-HT2C-R KO mice also display altered stress responses (111), a deficit in maternal behavior (Storm, unpublished data), decreased spatial memory performance in the Morris water maze, and decreased long-term potentiation (LTP) in medial perforant path-dentate gyrus synapses (112). 

Malleret G, Hen R, Guillou JL, Segu L, Buhot MC. 5-HT1B receptor knock-out mice exhibit increased exploratory activity and enhanced spatial memory performance in the Morris water maze. J Neurosci 1999 19(14) 6157-6168. 

Few studies in rats have supplied preformed DHA to the diets of the experimental animals. In one such study (Wainwright, et al., 1999). four groups of male Long-Evans rats were weaned and raised on a diet containing 10% LA and 1 % LNA with or without 2,5% ofDHA and/or AA (in a 2x2 factorial scheme). After 6-9 wk, these rats were tested in the Morris water maze, but there were no significant differences between their performances, nor were they different from a control group suckled by dams fed standard lab chow or a group fed 13.5% lard. 

Van Dam et al. (2005) Sixty rats, APP23 and wild type. Random assignment to galantamine (1.25 or 2.5 mg/kg). (Other AChE also tested) Performance on the Morris water maze 1.25 mg/kg of galantamine-reduced cognitive deficits... 

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