Figure 5.

Y (or T) Maze Spontaneous Alternative Test. This is the behavioral test for measuring the willingness of rodents to explore a new environment. Mice prefer typically to to explore a new arm of the maze rather then returning to one previously visited. Intially, an animal is inserted to the center of the maze and allowed to freely explore the 3 arms. Over multiple arm entries, the animal should show a tendency to enter a less-recently visited arm. The number of arm entries and the number of triads are recorded to calculate the percentage of alternation.