Neurobehavioral Assessments of Cerebral Vasospasm - Animal Models of Acute Neurological Injuries: Injury and Mechanistic Assessments - page 553

reward placed in some of the arms. The maze is usually located in
the room with visual cues. Errors in the fi rst ten choices and/or
total errors per session serve as measures for RAM (mice ( 92, 97 );
rats ( 94, 98, 99 ); rats and mice ( 95 ); and pigs ( 100-102 )).

Radial arm water maze (RAWM) represents a RAM placed inside
the pool and has been used with rats and mice. RAWM combines
the positive aspects of the MWM and RAM and diminishes their
limitations ( 52, 91, 97 ).

6.5.3. Radial Arm Water
Maze

The Barnes maze represents a dry version of MWM with some
elements of RAM. Rats and mice have been used in it. Several vari-
eties of the test are available. The maze consists of a round open
platform with 8-18 holes that appear identical around the perim-
eter. One of these holes leads to a rescue/escape cage under the
platform. The animal is released in the center and is exposed to
intense light or to a loud noise. In response to this intense stimula-
tion, the animal searches for shelter and enters one or more of the
8-18 holes around the platform.
Measures for the Barnes maze include latency and accuracy
fi nding the escape cage. Learning, working memory, and spatial
reference memory can be assessed in the Barnes maze ( 94, 95, 103 ).

6.5.4. Barnes Maze

The fi rst conditioning experiments by Ivan Pavlov (Russian physi-
ologist, psychologist, and physician) with animals given a signal
(light or buzzer) followed by food (testing fi rst-order refl exes) laid
the background for several areas of neurobiology, memory, and
incentive behavior. His legacy was continued by a Polish neurophysi-
ologist, Konorski, who signifi cantly expanded understanding several
areas of neurobiology by discovering secondary conditioned refl exes,
operant conditioning, and other behavioral tests ( 104-106 ).

6.5.5. Context Conditioning

6.6. Y- or V-mazes

Rodents are typically evaluated in a Y-maze. New World monkeys
have been tested in a V-maze. Cognition, short- and long-term
memory, and spatial working memory are assessed in these mazes.
Several modifi cations of the test can be conducted with different
levels of diffi culty and depending on the specifi c types of cognition
tested. (1) In one variety of the test, animals are placed in a Y-shaped
maze for a set period of time (typically, 6-8 min). (2) In another
variety, one arm of the Y-maze is blocked and the animal is allowed
to explore the two arms for 15-30 min, after which the animal is
removed from the maze for a few minutes (or up to several hours),
and then placed back into the maze, with all arms open, to explore
for 5 min. To test long-term memory, this test can be repeated
days to weeks later.