Remote-Controlled Atlantis Platforms for Morris Water Maze

Additional Info

FEATURE	BENEFIT
4 Platforms with one Controller	Consistency of positioning in the 4 quadrants
Remote lifting/lowering control	No more hands in the pool!
Hydraulic system	No electricity in the pool
Manually or automated mode	Upward/downward movement precisely managed by controller and/or software

General
Number of channels	4, independent
Operating Modes	Manual or TTL
Controls	Via control unit and/or software
Platform vertical range	25-35cm
Platform vertical travel	10cm
Platform speed	10mm/second
Platform diameter	10cm
Power	80V/240Vac, 50/60 Hz
Operating Temperature	10° to 40°C
Sound Level	Negligible
Pollution Degree	≤ 2
Physical
Weight	11Kg         1-platform 30Kg         4-platforms
Shipping Weight	17Kg         1-platform 39Kg         4-platforms
Packing	80x60x44cm 80x60x44cm x 2 (40400)
Warranty	40100 is covered by a 24-month warranty

As described in the paper “The Atlantis Platform: A New Design and Further Developments of Buresova's On-demand Platform for the Water Maze” by R.I.W. Spooner et alia, in the widely used spatial learning task of the water maze is a (Morris 1981, 1984) rats (or mice) will rapidly learn to take relatively direct paths to the platform, indicating that they may have learned its spatial location.

Transfer tests, sometimes called probe tests, in which the platform is removed from the pool, offer further evidence of true spatial learning, as trained animals display a search pattern focusing on the platform location in the training quadrant.

For this reason, and despite its efficacy, the water maze task has some limitations: animals may develop strategies for finding the platform, such as circling at roughly the appropriate distance from the sidewall, which do not actually require them to learn where the platform is located, hence leading to falsely interpreted spatial learning.

To overcome these limits, the Atlantis platform was designed by Buresova et al. (1985) and validated in the above mentioned paper, proving that the platform is highly (100%) reliable and showing significantly improved localization of rats trained to the Atlantis platform compared with those trained to the regular hidden platform.

The Platform gradual rise to a position just below the water surface causes minimal behavioral disruption. The rats treat it as an escape platform in exactly the same way as the regular platform.

 

40100	Complete 1-Platform System, including standard components
40100-001	4-Channel Controller
40101-002	Atlantis Platform
40101-003	Motor
E-AU 041	USB pen drive, including: 40100-302    Instruction Manual
40400	Complete 4-Platform System, including standard components
40100-001	4-Channel Controller
40101-002	Atlantis Platforms X 4
40101-003	Motors X 4
E-AU 041	USB pen drive, including: 40100-302    Instruction Manual
AVAILABLE ACCESSORIES
40101	Additional platform and motor assembly

 

Bibliography on 40100

• D. Ryan et alia: "Spatial Learning Impairments in Plb1triple Knock-In Alzheimer Mice are Task-Specific and Age-Dependent" Cellular and molecular life sciences 70(14): 2603-2619, 2013

• R.I.W. Spooner et al.: ”The Atlantis Platform: A New Design and Further Developments of Buresova’s On-demand Platform for the Water Maze” Learn. Mem. 1: 203-211, 1994 
• G. Riedel et al.: “Reversible Neural Inactivation Re­veals Hippocampal Participation in Several Memo­ry processes” Nature Neurosc. 2 (10): 898-905, 1999
• I.Q. Wihshaw et al.: “The Behavior of the Laborato­ry Rat: A Handbook with Tests” Oxford Univ. Press, USA: 1, 2004