The Morris Water Maze is a rodent spatial learning and memory assay in which a mouse or rat swims in opaque water to find an escape platform; in the hidden-platform version, the animal cannot see the platform and must use distal extra-maze cues to learn its fixed spatial location. The assay primarily measures hippocampus-dependent spatial learning during acquisition trials and spatial reference memory during probe trials after platform removal; readouts include escape latency, swim path length, swim speed, quadrant occupancy, platform-site crossings, and proximity to the former platform location.
Morris Water Maze (MWM)
The Morris Water Maze (MWM) is an experiment used to evaluate the spatial learning and memory abilities of mice or rats. In the experiment, animals were placed in a water-filled circular pool with a potential underwater platform. Through learning and memory, the animal needs to find and remember the location of this platform. After multiple trials, the animals' swimming path in the pool and the time it takes to find the platform are observed to evaluate their spatial cognition and learning abilities. MWM is widely used in neurobiology, drug evaluation, and neurodegenerative disease research.
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