Comparison of Learning and Memory Abilities among Three Species of Mice Tested in Morris Water Maze

Objective To investigate the differences of learning and memory abilities among three species of mice tested in Morris water maze.Methods Place navigation,spatial probe and working memory tests were performed to determine the learning and memory abilities of C57BL /6,Kunming and ICR mice.Results C57BL /6 mice found the hidden platform faster than other two strains of mice in the place navigation test,showing a significant difference from the 3rd day(P 0.01).In the spatial probe test,C57BL /6 mice spent more time in the target quadrant than other groups(P 0.001).In working memory test,the escape latency of mice became shorter and shorter in four tests per day,and C57BL /6 mice saved more time to the platform than Kunming mice and ICR mice,but there was no significant difference between Kunming mice and ICR mice.Conclusions C57BL /6 mice perform better than Kunming mice and ICR mice in spatial reference and working memory abilities.It may be more suitable for Morris water maze test.