Set-up
The Barnes maze consists of a circular surface with up to 20 circular holes around its circumference. Visual cues, such as colored shapes or patterns, are placed around the table in plain sight of the animal. The table surface is brightly lit by overhead lighting. Under one of the holes is an "escape box" which can be reached by the rodent through the corresponding hole on the table top. The model is based on rodents' aversion of open spaces, which motivates the test subject to seek shelter in the escape box. A normal rodent will learn to find the escape box within four to five trials and will head directly toward the escape box without attempting to escape via incorrect holes. Various parameters are measured including latency to escape, path length, number of errors, and velocity. The selection of a background strain and the choice of behavioural tasks are significant in determining the outcome of an experiment. These variables help to verify that innate anxiety and cognitive ability differ considerably among mouse strains.
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