Barney Miller and Morris water navigation task: Difference between pages

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In [[neuroscience]], the '''Morris water maze''' is a behavioral procedure designed to test [[spatial memory]]. It was developed by [[neuroscientist]] [[Richard Morris]] in [[1981]], and is commonly used today to explore the role of the [[hippocampus]] in the formation of [[spatial memory|spatial memories]].

'''''Barney Miller''''' was a [[sitcom|comedy]] [[television series]] set in a [[New York City]] police station. It starred [[Hal Linden]], [[Barbara Barrie]] (for two seasons), [[Abe Vigoda]], [[Max Gail]], [[Ron Glass]], [[Jack Soo]], [[Steve Landesberg]], [[Ron Carey (actor)|Ron Carey]] and [[James Gregory (actor)|James Gregory]]. The show ran from [[1975]] to [[1982]] on [[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]]. The distinctive opening notes of the theme song's [[bass line]] (used over a shot of the New York [[skyline]]) remain familiar to nearly anyone who has watched the show, and are still frequently played by [[bassists|bass guitar]] when warming up or performing [[sound check]]s before performances.

== Overview ==

The show was known and well loved for its range of distinctive characters and wry humor. Captain Barney Miller (Linden) tries to remain sane while running a police station populated by pessimistic retirement-age Philip K. Fish (Vigoda), naive Stanley "Wojo" Wojohowicz (Gail), suave [[African-American]] Ronald Nathan Harris (Glass), philosophical [[Japanese-American]] Nick Yemana (Soo), detective wannabe Carl Levitt (Carey) and befuddled superior Inspector Franklin Luger (Gregory). In the first season only, [[Gregory Sierra]] played neurotic Puerto Rican Detective Chano Amangual; his character was replaced by soi-disant intellectual Arthur P. Dietrich (Landesberg) from the second season on.

In the typical [[paradigm]], a [[rat]] or [[mouse]] is placed into a small pool of [[opaque]] water—back-end first to avoid [[stress (medicine)|stress]], and facing the pool-side to avoid bias—which contains a escape platform hidden a few [[millimeter]]s below the water surface. Visual cues, such as colored shapes, are placed around the pool in plain sight of the animal.

Recurring characters included Barney's son David ([[Michael Tessier]]) and daughter Rachel ([[Anne Wyndham]]); Officer Kogan ([[Milt Kogan]]); the gay couple Marty Morrison ([[Jack DeLeon]]) and Darryl Driscoll ([[Ray Stewart]]); attorney Arnold Drake Ripner ([[Alex Henteloff]]); Detective Janice Wentworth ([[Linda Lavin]]); Detective Eric Dorsey ([[Paul Lieber]]); Detective Maria Battista ([[June Gable]]); Officer Rosslyn Licori ([[Mari Gorman]]); gay police officer Zatelli ([[Dino Natali]]); Internal Affairs Lt. Ben Scanlon ([[George Murdock (actor)|George Murdock]]); Inspector Kelly ([[Dick O'Neill]]); liquor store owner Mr. Cotterman ([[Jack Somack]]); vigilante Bruno Binder and his wife ([[Stanley Brock]] and [[Mari Gorman]]); building superintendent Beckman ([[Paul Lichtman]]); group home children Jilly ([[Denise Miller]]) and Victor ([[John Cassisi]]); werewolf Mr. Kopeckne ([[Kenneth Tigar]]); blind man Leon Roth ([[Ralph Manza]]); Sidney the bookie ([[Buddy Lester]]); married couple Phillip and Harriet Brauer ([[Peter Hobbs]] and [[Doris Roberts]]); rabbi Yacov Berger ([[Nehemiah Persoff]]); Ray Brewer ([[John Dullaghan]]); crook Arthur Duncan ([[J.J. Barry]]); Mr. Lukather ([[Judson Morgan]]).

The pool is usually 4 to 6 feet in diameter and 2 feet deep. The pool could instead be half-filled with water at 1 foot deep. Some sidewall above the waterline prevents the rat from being distracted by lab activity. Mice are less cooperative in the water maze, but the bonus is that they are available as ‘knockout’ [[mutant]]s.

After two seasons, Barney Miller's family was written out of the show. Ms. Barrie would make occasional guest appearances. From time to time, Phil Fish's wife Bernice ([[Florence Stanley]]) was shown. In [[1977]], the characters of Phil and Bernice Fish were [[spinoff|spun off]] onto their own show, ''[[Fish (television)|Fish]]''.

When released, the rat swims around the pool in search of an exit while various [[parameter]]s are recorded, including the time spent in each [[quadrant]] of the pool, the time taken to reach the platform ([[Latency (engineering)|latency]]), and total distance traveled. The rat's escape from the water reinforces its desire to quickly find the platform, and on subsequent trials (with the platform in the same position) the rat is able to locate the platform more rapidly. This improvement in performance occurs because the rat has learned where the hidden platform is located relative to the conspicuous visual cues. If the rat does not escape within 1 to 2 minutes, it is rescued. After enough practice, a capable rat can swim directly from any release point to the platform. This ability is attributed to a spatial map in a [[brain]] area called the [[hippocampus]].

In [[1979]], Jack Soo died. His character was so beloved by the audience and his fellow actors, that, following his death, a special memorial episode aired. By the final seasons, the program was unusual in its resemblance to a stage play, in that its scenes almost never strayed from the single set of the one-room precinct station (with its prominent open-barred [[holding cell]]) and Miller's adjoining office. Characters came and went from the set, but were never shown outside or in other buildings.

== Pharmacological manipulation ==

The first season is currently available on [[DVD]]. Some of the show's creative staff—though none of the main cast—went on to make the series ''[[Night Court]]'', which, while also popular, long-running, and similar in many key themes (right down to the catchy bass line at the beginning), did not receive the same critical acclaim, possibly because its comedic situations were broader and less subtle, and its characters less well developed, than those of ''Barney Miller''.

Various [[drug]]s can be applied to test subjects before, during, or after maze training, which can reveal information about spatial learning and its underlying mechanisms. For example rats treated with the [[NMDA receptor]] blocker [[APV]] perform poorly in the Morris water maze, suggesting that NMDA receptors play a vital role in spatial learning [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=1345945]. And since [[long-term potentiation]] -- a potential [[biology|biological]] mechanism for behavioral learning -- also requires NMDA receptors, spatial learning may require LTP.

==External link==

*{{imdb title|id=0072472|title=Barney Miller}}

Liang et al reported in [[1994]] that spatial learning requires both [[NMDA receptor|NMDA]] and [[AMPA receptor]]s, consolidation requires NMDA receptors, and the retrieval of spatial memories requires AMPA receptors [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=7796636].

[[Category:ABC network shows]]

[[Category:Sitcoms]]

== Water maze vs. Conventional mazes ==

[[Category:Fictional police officers|Miller, Barney]]

[[Category:1970s TV shows in the United States]]

Watermaze has advantages over conventional mazes (e.g., [[plus maze]]). There are no [[local cue]]s such as [[scent trace]]s; no fixed escape-fomula; the rat makes good progress in the trials because it wants to escape. Rats are natural swimmers – they are not distressed but they do want to find that platform. Mice have an option to float, and maybe this is why they are not so cooperative in watermaze. It has been suggested that they don’t aim to find the platform, but trick the technician into rescuing them.

[[Category:1980s TV shows in the United States]]

== Watermaze analysis ==

The earliest and classic measure of learning is ''[[Latency (engineering)|latency]]'', which refers to the amount of time it takes to find the platform. However, rats can cheat. They might guess an area and swim a search pattern, getting to the platform quite quickly. There is a whole bunch of further analyses, which can tease out true spatial learning. The same swim is used, but a [[video tracker]] is required. Professional systems come with a suite of analysis features to extract measures such as time and path in [[quadrant]]s, near platform, in any specified area. The [[Gallagher measure]] looks for average distance to platform. The [[Whishaw corridor test]] measures time and path in a strip from swim-start to platform.

Mice are smart

== Atlantis platform ==

A more advanced way to stop the rats cheating is the [[Atlantis rising platform]], which stays deep in the water and only rises when the rat lingers at the right place.

== References ==

* Davis S, Butcher SP, Morris RG. "The NMDA receptor antagonist D-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoate (D-AP5) impairs spatial learning and LTP in vivo at intracerebral concentrations comparable to those that block LTP in vitro." ''J Neurosci''. 1992 Jan;12(1):21-34. PMID 1345945

* Liang KC, Hon W, Tyan YM, Liao WL. "Involvement of hippocampal NMDA and AMPA receptors in acquisition, formation and retrieval of spatial memory in the Morris water maze." ''Chin J Physiol.'' 1994;37(4):201-12. PMID 7796636

[[de:Morris-Wasserlabyrinth]]

==External linklinks==

* [http://www.hvsimage.com/papers/index.htm Watermaze publications 1966-2002]

* [http://neco.mitpress.org/cgi/content/abstract/10/1/73 Information on the hippocampus]

* [http://www.mailtalk.ac.uk/archives/watermaze.html The UK Academic Watermaze Discussion Group]

[[Category:ABC network showsMazes]]

[[Category:SitcomsNeuroscience]]