Virtual Morris water maze: opportunities and challenges

Abstract

The ability to accurately recall locations and navigate our environment relies on multiple cognitive mechanisms. The behavioural and neural correlates of spatial navigation have been repeatedly examined using different types of mazes and tasks with animals. Accurate performances of many of these tasks have proven to depend on specific circuits and brain structures and some have become the standard test of memory in many disease models. With the introduction of virtual reality (VR) to neuroscience research, VR tasks have become a popular method of examining human spatial memory and navigation. However, the types of VR tasks used to examine navigation across laboratories appears to greatly differ, from open arena mazes and virtual towns to driving simulators. Here, we examined over 200 VR navigation papers, and found that the most popular task used is the virtual analogue of the Morris water maze (VWM). Although we highlight the many advantages of using the VWM task, there are also some major difficulties related to the widespread use of this behavioural method. Despite the task’s popularity, we demonstrate an inconsistency of use – particularly with respect to the environmental setup and procedures. Using different versions of the virtual water maze makes replication of findings and comparison of results across researchers very difficult. We suggest the need for protocol and design standardisation, alongside other difficulties that need to be addressed, if the virtual water maze is to become the ‘gold standard’ for human spatial research similar to its animal counterpart.

High-intensity interval training improves cognitive impairment of vascular dementia rats by up-regulating expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus

“…The cerebral cortex and hippocampus are important brain regions for cognitive, learning, memory, and other thinking activities, and the histological changes of the cortex and hippocampus in VD rats are the pathological basis of cognitive dysfunction in animals. Morris water maze test is the main assessment method of classical behavioral analysis of VD animal disease models [20]. For the sham group, the escape latency gradually decreased during the 5-day training, which was considered as the formation of long-term declarative memory during the experimental training.…”

Dexmedetomidine alleviates hippocampal neuronal loss and cognitive decline in rats undergoing open surgery under sevoflurane anaesthesia by suppressing CCAAT/enhancer‐binding protein beta

“…The Morris water maze test, which was invented in the 1980s by psychologist Richard G. Morris and used to evaluate the behavioural method of hippocampus-dependent spatial learning and memory function in rodents, allows a good quantification of memory indexes and effectively reflects the animal's ability to acquire spatial information and memory storage (Lissner et al, 2021). Moreover, the results of the Morris water maze test are stable and reproducible, which can be used to reflect the cognitive function of aged SD rats at various time points preoperatively and postoperatively, and it is currently accepted as a precise and reliable measure (Thornberry et al, 2021). Among them, the change in escape latency during training could reflect the learning ability of rats, and the number of crossing the platform versus escape platform quadrant stay time during the test could reflect the spatial memory ability of rats (Sun et al, 2022).…”

Age‐related deficits in neuronal physiology and cognitive function are recapitulated in young mice overexpressing the L‐type calcium channel, CaV1.3

“…Since its original description over 40 years ago (Morris, 1981), the Morris water maze has been used to study hippocampal‐dependent learning and memory with more than 11,000 publications cited in PubMed (Othman et al, 2022). With the advent of virtual reality technology, the MWM has been used extensively in humans (Thornberry et al, 2021) and has proved useful in studies where subjects exhibit sensory deficits (Dobbels et al, 2020). The MWM has also been used to evaluate cognitive deficits associated with AD (e.g., (Laczó et al, 2010; Possin et al, 2016)).The MWM experiments were conducted similarly to those previously described (McKinney & Murphy, 2006; White et al, 2008).…”