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The original Star maze was described in the literature by Dr. Laure Rondi-Reig as a method to study spatial navigation and its two different orientation systems, allocentric and egocentric navigation. The original maze in the literature utilized a round acrylic arena with a star in the middle. The MazeEngineers iteration takes the Morris Water maze as an external boundary for the Star Maze Task. Inserts are provided to fit your Morris Water Maze, with the added benefit that the classic Morris Water Maze task can be done in addition to the Star maze. The star is made from Stainless steel for long term use and minimization of corrosion.
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After completing her studies in Biology and Neurosciences at Pierre and Marie Curie University (UPMC) in Paris, Laure Rondi-Reig earned her PhD focusing on the “Cerebellum’s Role in Motor and Spatial Learning.” Following her doctoral studies, she underwent postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) under S. Tonegawa’s guidance, specializing in behavioral genetics and neuropsychology of memory, and collaborated with H. Eichenbaum at Boston University. Subsequently, she joined the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) and conducted research at the Collège de France in A. Berthoz’s laboratory. Presently, she directs her own lab, “Cerebellum, Navigation, and Memory” (CeZaMe), within the Neuroscience department of the Biology Paris Seine Institute (NPS, IBPS, CNRS, Sorbonne University, Inserm), concurrently serving as President of the scientific council for Sorbonne University’s life science department.
Laure Rondi-Reig is an esteemed authority in the field of Memory and Navigation. Her research has elucidated the functional interplay between the cerebellum and hippocampus in spatial cognition, highlighting the significance of self-motion calibration for navigation and spatial memory. Notably, she pioneered the development of the Starmaze, a tool for assessing memory and navigation strategies in both rodents and humans. Her contributions have been recognized with prestigious accolades, including the CNRS Bronze Medal in 2010, the FRM Iagonitzer Prize in 2012, and the SATT Lutech Innovation Prize in 2019, all acknowledging her invention and its applications in diagnosing memory disorders in human and rodent models.
In the realm of behavioral neuroscience, a valuable tool for dissecting the complexities of spatial navigation is the Star Maze (Rondi-Reig et al., 2005). Combining elements from the Morris Water Maze (Morris, 1984) and the T-maze (Packard and McGaugh, 1996), the Star Maze provides a sophisticated platform for investigating spatial navigation processes, offering insights into both the acquisition and organization of spatial knowledge and discerning between various strategies employed in the task.
The design of the Star Maze cleverly integrates features from both its predecessors. In this apparatus, rodents are challenged to locate an escape platform submerged within the water while navigating a maze comprising five branches, presenting numerous intersections. Similar to conventional maze paradigms, rodents undergo a pre-training phase where they swim from one alley to another to reach the escape platform. During subsequent test probes, they are tasked with finding the same platform but from different starting points within the Star Maze.
This methodology allows for the identification of multiple navigation strategies utilized by animals, whether they rely on map-based navigation, follow a specific movement sequence, or are guided by visual cues within the maze, or a combination thereof. The versatility of the Star Maze apparatus enables the implementation of various experimental protocols (Rondi-Reig et al., 2005), each delineating the specific strategy utilized by the rodent.
The Star Maze serves as an invaluable research paradigm for probing and distinguishing among the diverse facets of spatial learning. The observable behaviors exhibited by subjects navigating the Star Maze provide a nuanced understanding of spatial navigation processes.
Constructed with meticulous detail, the Star Maze apparatus features a distinctive layout comprising five alleys forming an inner pentagonal ring, with an additional alley branching out from each pentagonal junction. These alleys are crafted from durable aluminum, ensuring longevity for extensive usage. Surrounding the maze structure is a tub, available in depths of 4, 5, or 6 feet, intended for water filling. The water is rendered opaque using substances such as pure or powdered milk, white non-toxic watercolor paint, or similar materials. Depending on the experimental requirements, the walls of the Star Maze apparatus can be adorned with intra-maze cues to facilitate intra-maze cue-based guidance strategies. Moreover, the apparatus can be positioned flexibly within a room or laboratory environment, with the option to incorporate extra-maze (distal) cues for enhanced spatial navigation tasks.
The core objective of the apparatus is to present rodents with the challenge of locating an escape platform concealed within the water, positioned within one of the five alleys. Rodents undergo pre-training sessions, starting from a designated alley, and are subsequently tested in probe trials, commencing from alternate alleys. Through this experimental setup, various spatial strategies employed by rodents can be discerned and analyzed in detail.
The Star Maze task encompasses four distinct experimental protocols, each serving to elucidate different aspects of spatial navigation:
Identifying Multiple Strategies: Pre-training & Probe Tests
In this protocol, rodents undergo pre-training sessions starting from alley 1, aiming to reach the escape platform in alley 7 within the Star Maze (as depicted in the figure below). Lasting approximately 20 days, this protocol assesses the rodents’ learning abilities while observing four main strategies: map-based (allocentric), sequential-guidance, and sequential egocentric. During probe tests held every five days, rodents start from alley 5, and their performance is measured using Noldus Ethovision XT, recording escape latency, visited alleys, and trajectory. Probe tests lasting 90 seconds aim to validate the learned strategies.
Allocentric (Map-based) Strategy
This version focuses solely on evaluating rodents’ ability to organize spatial knowledge and navigate the maze to locate the escape platform. Rodents are subjected to pre-training and subsequent allocentric probe tests starting from randomly selected alleys, with performance metrics measured using timers and Noldus Ethovision XT.
Sequential-Guidance and Sequential-Egocentric Strategies
For these strategies, the maze is enclosed with a black curtain to eliminate extra-maze cues. Rodents undergo pre-training sessions to learn either a sequence of intra-maze cues or body movements, evaluating sequential-guidance and sequential-egocentric strategies, respectively. In the sequential-egocentric setup, maze walls are made white to remove intra-maze cues.
Exploration of Distinctive Brain Regions
The intricate nature of the star maze test has provided intricate insights into the nuanced processes underlying spatial navigation. Recent advancements in research utilizing this apparatus have illuminated the involvement of distinct brain regions in various spatial processes delineated by the star maze test, such as the differentiation between one-body and two-body turns in egocentric strategies.
Observations of specific experimental deficits have yielded valuable insights into the role of the hippocampus in the spatiotemporal organization of information (Rondi-Reig et al., 2006). These discoveries hold significant implications for the early identification of age-related cognitive decline in humans.
Data from the Star Maze allocentric-strategy test is illustrated by graphing the mean number of alleys visited by rodents in both experimental and control groups. Notably, knockout mice, characterized by a greater number of alleys visited compared to control mice, exhibit significant impairment in recalling the escape platform’s location from memory. These findings strongly indicate the role of the specific receptor gene, absent in knockout mice, in the allocentric or mapping component of spatial navigation.
Drawing parallels with the Morris water maze and the T-maze, the Star Maze ingeniously integrates aspects from both paradigms to provide an intricate assessment of spatial learning capabilities. By confining rodents’ swimming paths within maze walls, it facilitates a methodical examination of navigation patterns. Unlike conventional assessments that dissect spatial processes into components, the Star Maze test goes beyond by scrutinizing the rodent’s capacity to autonomously select and shift between strategies spontaneously.
Morris, R. (1984). Developments of a water-maze procedure for studying spatial learning in the rat. Journal of neuroscience methods, 11(1), 47-60.
Rondi-Reig, L., Petit, G. H., Tobin, C., Tonegawa, S., Mariani, J., & Berthoz, A. (2006). Impaired sequential egocentric and allocentric memories in forebrain-specific–NMDA receptor knock-out mice during a new task dissociating strategies of navigation. Journal of Neuroscience, 26(15), 4071-4081.
Rondi-Reig, L., Petit, G., Arleo1&, A., & Burguière, E. (2005). The starmaze: a new paradigm to characterize multiple spatial navigation strategies. Behavior Research Methods.
Packard MG, McGaugh JL. (1996). Inactivation of hippocampus or caudate nucleus with lidocaine differentially affects expression of place and response learning. Neurobiol Learn Mem 65:65–72.
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