This protocol has been previously described by Belichenko et al. (2009) and was modified from a Deacon and Rawlins protocol (Deacon and Rawlins 2006; Belichenko et al. 2009). The Y-maze was made of solid white plastic and consisted of two symmetrical arms and one longer arm at 120° angles (longer arm, 20.7 cm length × 12.7 cm height × 7.62 cm width; equal arms, 15.24 cm length × 12.7 cm height × 7.62 cm width). At the Y-27632 structure beginning of trials, mice were placed in the

center of the maze and allowed to freely explore the three arms for 5 min. Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical Arm entry was defined as having all four limbs inside an arm. The maze was cleaned with 10% ethanol between animals and before the first animal to eliminate traces of odor. The number of arm entries and the number of triads were recorded in order to calculate Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the alternation http://www.selleckchem.com/products/brefeldin-a.html percentage, which was calculated by dividing the number of triads by the number

of possible alternations multiplied by 100. A triad was defined as a set of consecutive arm entries (Drew et al. 1973; Hughes 2004). For both T-maze and Y-maze spontaneous alternation test, n = 12 for Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical both control and Thy1-hAPPLond/Swe+ mice. Morris water maze The MWM was originally designed to test spatial reference memory in rats by observing and recording escape latency, distance moved, and velocity during the search of a hidden escape platform in a large pool (Morris 1984). For our test, we used a large water tank (178 cm in diameter) Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical filled with water at a temperature of 22.0 ± 1.5°C with a circular platform (17 cm in diameter) placed about 1 cm below the water surface and approximately 50 cm away from the wall. Nontoxic tempera paints (Elmers, Westerville, OH) were used to make the water opaque. The water tank Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical was completely surrounded by privacy

blinds with at least four visual cues attached to the blinds. Four different shapes including a star shape, circle, rectangle, and diamond each with approximately 6 square feet in surface area were used as visual cues. The visual cues were located approximately 150 cm from the center of the tank. The water tank arena was monitored by an overhead video system that allowed Ethovision to Cilengitide track the mice. During hidden platform training, a platform was positioned in one quadrant of the tank. Mice were released from pseudorandomized drop locations and given 90 sec to find the platform. The distance to the platform was generally the same within a day. The trial either ended when the mice rested on the platform for 10 sec or until the trial duration expired. If mice failed to find the submerged hidden platform during that time, they were guided to it. Mice underwent four trials of training each day (30-min ITIs) for four consecutive days. Upon completion of the hidden platform training, the platform was removed and a 30-sec probe trial was conducted.