Direct Finding: The animal swims straight to the platform with minimal deviation.

Interpretation:

• Indicates strong spatial memory and accurate allocentric navigation using distal cues.
• Suggests the animal has formed a stable spatial representation of the environment.
• Typically emerges in later acquisition trials or well-trained animals.

Relevance:

• A hallmark of hippocampus-dependent learning.

Target Scanning: The animal swims near the platform location, often circling or moving back and forth in that specific area, but without heading directly to it.

Interpretation:

• Suggests the animal remembers the general location of the platform but is not pinpointing it precisely.
• Reflects a partially developed spatial map or possible strategy refinement in progress.

Relevance:

• Useful for identifying intermediate stages of spatial learning.

Focused Search: The animal spends the majority of the trial searching in the correct quadrant or immediate surrounding area of the platform, without taking a direct route.

Interpretation:

• Indicates platform-location memory, but with less efficient path planning.
• May represent uncertainty or imprecise cue integration.

Relevance:

• Often seen during early learning, in probe trials, or in mild hippocampal impairment.

Chaining: The animal swims in a circular path at a fixed distance from the wall, corresponding roughly to the platform’s radial distance.

Interpretation:

• A non-spatial, procedural strategy—the platform is found by chance, not via spatial memory.
• Reflects egocentric navigation, possibly mediated by the dorsolateral striatum.

Relevance:

• Common in animals with hippocampal dysfunction, early in training, or when spatial cues are absent or ambiguous.

General Scanning: The animal swims in broad loops or meandering paths across multiple quadrants without consistent focus on any specific area.

Interpretation:

• Suggests the animal is searching randomly or employing a non-specific strategy.
• May reflect uncertainty, early training, or cognitive impairment.

Relevance:

• Helps distinguish between strategy formation and disoriented or disengaged behavior.

Thigmotaxis: The animal swims along the edge of the pool, hugging the wall.

Interpretation:

• Often indicates anxiety, stress, or lack of task engagement.
• Also common in very early training trials before learning begins.

Relevance:

• Excessive thigmotaxis can mask or delay spatial learning and is a key behavioral marker to track, particularly in anxiety or neuromodulation studies.