Pain and inflammation
Motory Coordination, Grip, Strength, Activity
Ventilators and Gas Anesthesia
Behaviour, Conditioning, Reward
Behaviour, Mazes, Tracking
Tissue baths, Transducers, Recorders
Miscellaneous, ECT, LMD
Blood pressure, Vital functions
Metabolism, Feeding behaviour
Muromachi microwave fixation
The Atlantis System allows a remote control of platforms in a Morris water maze.
The Ugo Basile Atlantis Platforms can be lifted and lowered automatically by hydraulic force. They are made of clear Perspex, so hardly visible when immersed in the water tank and being operated solely by hydraulic force, no electricity is present inside the pool.
All the electrical parts of the mechanism are safely located outside the pool.
Despite the efficacy of the Morris Water Maze task, the test carried out with standard platforms has some limitations, relating to the fact that the platforms normally used have fixed height and cannot be raised during probe tests. Moreover, moving the platform always requires interrupting a trial and starting a new one. Probe tests run with the use of a lift platform give more reliable indications on the presence of true spatial learning.
Our Atlantis system makes it possible to lift the platform with the test in progress: moreover, as up to 4 platforms are driven by the same controller (or by PC), the platforms do not need to be repositioned within the pool in the course of the experiment: they can simply be positioned in the different pool quarters and lifted when necessary. Unique to our system, both platform lifting and collapsing is controlled automatically. No more hands in the water!
When used as stand-alone tool, without motor/controller, the Atlantis hydraulic plat-form 40101-002 can also conveniently replace standard fixed platforms.
All our Morris Water Maze tanks are provided with suitable connectors to attach up to 4 platforms.
| 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 |
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