biostudies-literatureMeenakshi PKScience and Engineering Research BoardNIA NIH HHSNIMH NIH HHSNINDS NIH HHSCouncil for Scientific and Industrial Research, South AfricaNational Institutes of Health264-285https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC8921876biostudies-literatureUnknown32(4)Most commonly used behavioral measures for testing learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) involve comparisons of an animal's residence time in different quadrants of the pool. Such measures are limited in their ability to test different aspects of the animal's performance. Here, we describe novel measures of performance in the MWM that use vector fields to capture the motion of mice as well as their search pattern in the maze. Using these vector fields, we develop quantitative measures of performance that are intuitive and more sensitive than classical measures. First, we describe search patterns in terms of vector field properties and use these properties to define three metrics of spatial memory namely Spatial Accuracy, Uncertainty and, Intensity of Search. We demonstrate theHippocampusNovel measures of Morris water maze performance that use vector field maps to assess accuracy, uncertainty, and intention of navigational searches.PMC8921876EMR/2017/004155CSIR‐09/079(2697)/2016‐EMR‐IR01 MH084315R01 NS106969R01 MH113071RF1 AG013622Lee YSAlmeida-Filho DMehrotra DBalaji JNruthyathi NSilva AMeenakshi PKfalseNovel measures of Morris water maze performance that use vector field maps to assess accuracy, uncertainty, and intention of navigational searches.Most commonly used behavioral measures for testing learning and memory in the Morris water maze (MWM) involve comparisons of an animal's residence time in different quadrants of the pool. Such measures are limited in their ability to test different aspects of the animal's performance. Here, we describe novel measures of performance in the MWM that use vector fields to capture the motion of mice as well as their search pattern in the maze. Using these vector fields, we develop quantitative measures of performance that are intuitive and more sensitive than classical measures. First, we describe search patterns in terms of vector field properties and use these properties to define three metrics of spatial memory namely Spatial Accuracy, Uncertainty and, Intensity of Search. We demonstrate the2022-01-01T00:00:00Z2022 Apr2025-04-22T11:47:28.891Z2025-04-06T00:07:42.143ZS-EPMC89218763502512710.1002/hipo.23404