What does Y maze measure?
Y Maze Spontaneous Alternation is a behavioral test for measuring the willingness of rodents to explore new environments. Rodents typically prefer to investigate a new arm of the maze rather than returning to one that was previously visited.
What is Y maze used for?
The Y maze is widely used to assess behavioral task in preclinical research for studying spatial learning and memory. The use of Y maze tests includes spontaneous alternation test and recognition memory test. These tests have been shown to be sensitive to hippocampal damage, gene manipulations, and amnestic drugs.
How does the Y maze work?
The Y maze consists of three arms that are 120 degrees to each other in the shape of a capital Y. There are food rewards in the arms of the Y and there are doors at the entrances to the arms to either confine the animal to a specific arm once they’ve chosen to go down that arm, or to block them from entering that arm.
How do you calculate spontaneous alternation?
The entry is considered when all four limbs are within the arm. The alternation percentage is calculated by dividing the number of alternations by number of possible triads x 100. The maze is cleaned with Virkon solution between animals to eliminate odor traces.
What is the purpose of the Y maze?
Y Maze Spontaneous Alternation is a behavioral test for measuring the willingness of rodents to explore new environments.
How is the plus sign in the Y maze test?
The test is a modification of the Y-maze test that relies on the propensity of a rodent to spend less time in the open areas of the maze than the closed areas. A typical apparatus is the shape of a ‘plus’ sign and has two elevated arms, one open and one closed.
How big are the arms of the Y maze?
Each arm is usually 15 inches long and 3.5 inches wide with 3-inch high walls made of opaque material. The procedure consists of two sessions, each about 30 minutes. During the first session, 15 minutes in duration, one arm (the novel arm) is blocked but the mouse can inspect the other two open arms.
