Possibilities and Prospects of the Behavioral Test “Morris Water Maze”

The Morris Water Maze (MWM) behavioral test is a universal method for testing cognitive functions in experimental rodents, and it is especially effective in detecting deviations in memory functions and learning, which makes it indispensable in a study of aging, stroke, neurodegenerative diseases, effects of therapeutic drugs, and so on. However, this test can be a far more informative tool for analyzing the behavior of experimental animals than it seems at first glance. The formation and consolidation of memory, as well as learning, are quite complex processes that mainly involve the hippocampus but, in addition, many other brain areas. The numerous MWM protocols are so sensitive to changes in functioning of different, not only hippocampal, brain areas that they can be used as an “indicator” of normal cognitive function. Thus, MWM modifications involve different mechanisms of navigation, learning and memory, and the results of these tests, as well as their correct interpretation, can give a lot more information about the behavior of tested animals. Here, we survey most popular methods for conducting the MWM procedure and discuss those informative parameters that can help analyze the results of this test.