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. 2011 Jan;95(1):109-18.
doi: 10.1901/jeab.2011.95-109.

The canine sand maze: an appetitive spatial memory paradigm sensitive to age-related change in dogs

Hannah E Salvin  1 , Paul D McGreevy, Perminder S Sachdev, Michael J Valenzuela
Affiliations

The canine sand maze: an appetitive spatial memory paradigm sensitive to age-related change in dogs

Hannah E Salvin et al. J Exp Anal Behav. 2011 Jan.

Abstract

Aged dogs exhibit a spectrum of cognitive abilities including a syndrome similar to Alzheimer's disease. A major impediment to research so far has been the lack of a quick and accurate test of visuospatial memory appropriate for community-based animals. We therefore report on the development and validation of the Canine Sand Maze. A 4.5-m-diameter circular pool was filled with a sand and powdered food reward mix to a depth of 10 cm. Dogs were given 4 habituation and 16 learning trials which alternated a food reward being half (control trials) or fully-buried (acquisition trials) in a fixed location. After a 90-min break, a probe trial was conducted. Cognitively normal, aged (> 8 years, n = 11) and young (1-4 years, n = 11), breed-matched dogs were compared. After correction for differences in control trials, average probe times were 2.97 and 10.81 s for young and aged dogs, respectively. In the probe trial, both groups spent significantly more time in the target quadrant but there was a trend for young dogs to cross a 1 m(2) annulus zone around the buried reward more frequently (2.6 times) than aged dogs (1.5 times). Test-retest reliability in a subset of young dogs (n = 5) was high. On the basis of these findings, the Canine Sand Maze is presented as a quick, sensitive and nonaversive tool for assessing spatial learning and reference memory in dogs.

Keywords: aging; canine, dog; cognition; memory; sand maze.

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Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1
The canine sand maze, a 4.5-m-diameter pool filled with sand to a depth of 10 cm. Four doors are positioned equidistantly around the pool; the doors also serve as visual cues. A black curtain screens the pool from the rest of the experimental area.
Fig 2
Fig 2
The CSM trial protocol.
Fig 3
Fig 3
Time taken by aged (n  =  11) and young (n  =  11) breed-matched dogs to reach a 1-m2 annulus around a buried food reward during eight acquisition trials. All times were corrected for nonspecific differences at an individual level. Standard error of the mean bars are given for each value.
Fig 4
Fig 4
Average time to annulus during the probe retention trial for aged (n  =  11) and young (n  =  11) breed-matched dogs and the distribution of individual scores within each group. All times were corrected for nonspecific differences at an individual level.
Fig 5
Fig 5
Average percentage of time spent in each quadrant during the probe retention trial for aged (n  =  11) and young (n  =  11) breed-matched dogs and the distribution of individual scores. Quadrants were labeled: Target, the quadrant containing the learned location, and then A–C in a clockwise direction.
Fig 6
Fig 6
Individual acquisition and retention data for 3 example dogs, a young dog (Labrador, 3 years), an unimpaired aged dog (Labrador, 10 years) and an impaired aged dog (Golden retriever, 10 years). A) Time taken to reach the reward on control trials. B) Time taken to reach the buried reward on acquisition trials. C) Time to reach the 1-m2 annulus on acquisition trials and the probe retention trial.
Fig 7
Fig 7
Path diagrams for 3 example dogs, a young dog (Labrador, 3 years), an unimpaired aged dog (Labrador, 10 years) and an impaired aged dog (Golden retriever, 10 years), for acquisition trials 1, 3, 5 and 7 and the probe retention trial. The flag indicates the learned location. F  =  found the reward, S  =  sitting facing the direction of the arrow, L  =  lying facing the direction of the arrow.
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