Comparison of two water mazes in testing learning and memory on animal dementia models

ObjectiveTo compare the effectiveness of two water mazes in testing animal learning and memory ability. MethodsThe dementia mouse model was induced by scopolamine intraperitoneal injection; and rat model was induced by injection of Ibotenic acid into both sides of basal forebrain. Both mice and rats were tested by Morris water maze and passage water maze respectively. ResultsSignificant differences were observed between model groups and their vehicle groups in both tests (P0.05). The difference between both model group [for mice(99.319±38.10)s; for rat(74.34±41.64)s] and their respective treatment groups [for mice( 63.58±48.26)s; for rat(36.85±36.59)s]obvious showed significance in Morris water maze test (P0.05), while only improved tendency was observed in passage water maze. Conclusions Passage and Morris water maze tests can both effectively scale the learning and memory ability of rat and mice models. The Morris water maze is easier or sensitive than the passage water maze in testing learning and memory.