The Active Place Avoidance (APA) Test, an Effective, Versatile and Repeatable Spatial Learning Task for Mice

We want to examine how hippocampal-dependent spatial learning is altered with aging. We then examine how interventions, such as physical exercise, alter these cognitive outcomes. This behavioral paradigm allows us to readily examine these in the same cohort of mice.

Multiple cognitive tests are available to test spatial learning in mice, most of which have been established for decades. These include the Morris water maze, the Y-maze, and the Barnes maze. Each of these have limitations, especially in relation to longitudinal testing.

The main experimental challenge is to test animals in a longitudinal manner, making it difficult to accurately determine the effect of exercise interventions. Most spatial learning tests are either easily learned or are very stressful or inappropriate for disease models. By altering some key components of the active place avoidance, such as the rotational direction of the arena or the location of the shock zone, this test is able to be used multiple times.

By changing the color of the arena floor, we are able to test mice with different colors, such as C57-black-6 or Swiss mice.