biostudies-literatureUnknown11(2)Sanchez CQSpatial disorientation and navigational impairments are not only some of the first memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease, but are also very disease-specific. In rodents, the Morris Water Maze is used to investigate spatial navigation and memory. Here, we examined the spatial memory in the commonly used 5xFAD Alzheimer mouse model in a sex- and age-dependent manner. Our findings show first spatial learning deficits in 7-month-old female 5xFAD and 12-month-old male 5xFAD mice, respectively. While the assessment of spatial working memory using escape latencies provides a global picture of memory performance, it does not explain how an animal solves a spatial task. Therefore, a detailed analysis of swimming strategies was performed to better understand the behavioral differences between 5xFADBiomedicines599https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC9953202biostudies-literatureSearch Strategy Analysis of 5xFAD Alzheimer Mice in the Morris Water Maze Reveals Sex- and Age-Specific Spatial Navigation Deficits.PMC9953202Curdt NSchmitt FWSanchez CQBanfer IWHBouter YWesthoff ACBayer TAfalseSearch Strategy Analysis of 5xFAD Alzheimer Mice in the Morris Water Maze Reveals Sex- and Age-Specific Spatial Navigation Deficits.Spatial disorientation and navigational impairments are not only some of the first memory deficits in Alzheimer's disease, but are also very disease-specific. In rodents, the Morris Water Maze is used to investigate spatial navigation and memory. Here, we examined the spatial memory in the commonly used 5xFAD Alzheimer mouse model in a sex- and age-dependent manner. Our findings show first spatial learning deficits in 7-month-old female 5xFAD and 12-month-old male 5xFAD mice, respectively. While the assessment of spatial working memory using escape latencies provides a global picture of memory performance, it does not explain how an animal solves a spatial task. Therefore, a detailed analysis of swimming strategies was performed to better understand the behavioral differences between 5xFAD2023-01-01T00:00:00Z2023 Feb2025-04-05T13:20:20.448Z2025-02-18T23:57:55.807ZS-EPMC99532023683113510.3390/biomedicines11020599