Table 2.

The comparison of three commonly used tests measuring spatial learning and memory in rodents. For other comprehensive reviews, see Kapadia et al. (2016), Paul et al. (2009), and Vorhees and Williams (2014)

Feature (with comment if necessary)	Barnes maze	Morris water maze	Radial arm maze
Basic description of the task	An animal is placed in dry, circular platform and learns to reach target hole, located below the surface of the platform	An animal is placed in a circular pool and learns to locate a submerged platform	A food- or water-deprived animal is placed in the central hub and learns to obtain food or water from one of the arms
Recommendation regarding to species used	Mice > rats	Mice = rats	Mice = rats
Level of stress	Moderate	High	Moderate
Water immersion required	No	Yes	No (note: an aquatic version has been developed)
Physically demanding	Moderate	High	Moderate
Water or food deprivation required	No	No	Yes (note: animals should be equally motivated to find a reward)
Training length	Moderate	Moderate	Long
Odor cues (proper control of this confounding factor)	Yes	No	Yes
Measuring devices	Highly recommended	Mandatory	Highly recommended
Variations of the protocol to assess different aspects of spatial learning and memory	Yes (needs further validation, see “Variations of the protocol”)	Yes	Yes
Type of memory tested (depending on type of protocol)	Working memory; reference memory; cognitive flexibility	Working memory; reference memory; cognitive flexibility	working memory; working/reference memory