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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]].
[[Image:B_Richardson.jpg|thumb|Bill Richardson is currently the [[List of Governors of New Mexico|Governor of the state of New Mexico]]. He has previously served as a Congressman, [[Secretary of Energy]], and [[United States Ambassador to the United Nations|Ambassador to the United Nations]].]]
== Overview ==
'''William Blaine "Bill" Richardson''' (born [[November 15]], [[1947]]) is an [[United States|American]] [[politician]] and a member of the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic Party]]. He has served as a Congressman, [[United States Ambassadors to the United Nations|United States Ambassador to the United Nations]], and [[United States Secretary of Energy|U.S. Secretary of Energy]]; he is presently the [[Governor of New Mexico]]. He was also chairman of the [[2004 Democratic National Convention]] that nominated [[John Kerry]] for the presidency.
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.
==Early life and career==
Richardson was born in [[Pasadena, California]]. His mother, Maria Luisa Lopez-Collada, was Mexican. His father was a native of [[Boston]], who worked for [[Citibank]] as an executive in [[Mexico]]. He was raised in [[Mexico City]], but as a teenager attended a Boston-area high school. Richardson played [[baseball]] in high school at [[Middlesex School]] in [[Concord, Massachusetts]] and was a fine [[pitcher]]. He was drafted by the [[Kansas City Athletics]] but did not pursue baseball professionally. Richardson went on to [[Tufts University]], where he majored in French and [[political science]] and was a brother of [[Delta Tau Delta]]. He then added a master's degree from Tufts [[Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy]]. He met his wife, [[Barbara Flavin]], in Boston.
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 college, he worked on congressional relations for the [[United States Department of State|State Department]]. He was later a staff member of the [[Senate Foreign Relations Committee]]. In [[1978]], he moved to [[Santa Fe, New Mexico|Santa Fe]] and ran for [[United States Congress|Congress]], losing to longtime 1st District congressman and former [[Department of Interior]] Secretary [[Manuel Lujan]]. Four years later, Richardson was elected to New Mexico's newly created third district taking in most of the northern part of the state.
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]].
Richardson spent a little more than 14 years in Congress, never facing a truly serious opponent in the heavily Democratic 3rd District. As a congressman, he kept his interest in foreign relations. He visited [[Nicaragua]], [[Guatemala]], [[Cuba]], [[Peru]], [[India]], [[North Korea]], [[Bangladesh]], [[Nigeria]], and [[the Sudan]] to represent U.S. interests. In 1995 he travelled to [[Baghdad]] with [[Peter Bourne]] and personally shook hands with [[Saddam Hussein]]. He became a member of the Democratic leadership where he worked closely with [[Bill Clinton]] on several issues.
== Pharmacological manipulation ==
In [[1997]], Clinton appointed him as [[United States Ambassadors to the United Nations|U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations]]. He served there until [[1998]], when he was appointed as [[United States Secretary of Energy|U.S. Secretary of Energy]]. He served there for the remainder of the Clinton administration. In July [[2005]], Richardson was implicated in the [[Wen Ho Lee]] scandal; ot was alleged by a Federal judge that that Richardson leaked Lee's names to reporters months before the scientist was charged with any crime. At very least, as Energy Secretary, Richardson fired Lee with no proof of wrongdoing. [http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1093647,00.html][http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=20067][http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/09/13/lee/][http://archives.cnn.com/2000/LAW/law.and.politics/09/26/freeh.lee/]
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.
==Governor of New Mexico==
Richardson was elected governor of New Mexico in November [[2002]], defeating the [[United States Republican Party|Republican]] candidate, [[John Sanchez]] by 17 percentage points (56%-39%). He succeeded a two-term Republican governor, [[Gary Johnson]]. He took office in January [[2003]]. Richardson is the only [[Hispanic]] Governor in the United States. Early in his first term, it is said he has pressed energetically in a 100 directions at the same time. In his first year, Richardson proposed "tax cuts to promote growth and investment" and passed a broad personal income [[tax cut]] and won a statewide special election to transfer money from the state's Permanent Fund to meet current expenses and projects. In early 2005, Richardson made New Mexico the first state in the nation to provide $250,000 in life insurance coverage for New Mexico National Guardsmen who serve on active duty.
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].
Working with the legislature, the governor formed Governor Richardson's Investment Partnership ([http://nmgrip.com GRIP)] in 2003. The organization's purpose is planning and funding much-needed highway improvements throughout the state with $1.6 billion of funds, including the long overdue overhaul of the I-40/Coors interchange in [[Albuquerque]].
== Water maze vs. Conventional mazes ==
Some local observers have criticized that, when the cameras weren't on him, he reverts to a somewhat imperial style, seeking to impose his vision rather than respectfully consult and patiently build consensus. He has also been criticized for expanding and perhaps enjoying too much the perks of the position. So far his national reputation, polished by smooth major media appearances, remains rather unaffected by some of this bad local press.
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.
Even as governor, Richardson continues to be interested in foreign policy. During the summer of [[2003]], he met with a delegation from [[North Korea]] at their request to discuss concerns over that country's use of [[nuclear energy]].
== Watermaze analysis ==
He was named Chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and announced a desire to increase the role of Democratic governors in deciding the future of their party, including the naming of the next Democratic National Committee leader (or leaders).
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.
==Future political career==
Mice are smart
In 2005, the Associated Press reported that Richardson has informed party leaders that he intends to run in the [[2008 U.S. presidential election]] [http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/10236.html].
== Atlantis platform ==
The Albuquerque Journal reported on June 12 2005, that a New Mexico State [[Auditor]] concluded the Governor used [[Enron]] type [[accounting]] after his adminstration "circumvented the Legislature and proper accounting procedures when it opened the office in 2004 because it used money intended for the [http://www.state.nm.us/tax/ Taxation and Revenue Department] to pay for the governor's Albuquerque digs." The Governor had allegedly opened an office in [[Albuquerque]] five minutes from the airport to meet with potential out of state donors for his 2008 Presidential campaign without inconveniencing them with the two hour round trip to Sante Fe.
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==
{{wikiquote}}
* ''Traveling Troubleshooter Is Ready to Settle Down, at the U.N.:THE SECOND TERM: The New Lineup William Blaine Richardson,'' James Brooke, ''New York Times'', Dec 14, 1996. pg. 11, 1 pgs
* [http://www.abqjournal.com/yesterday/07-10-2005homeAM.HTML ''Richardson Named As Likely Source of Wen Ho Lee Leak'', By Adam Rankin, Albuquerque Journal] (Sunday, July 10, 2005)
==External linksReferences ==
*[http://www.governor.state.nm.us/ Governor Bill Richardson's official website]
*[http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200232&c=20901#summary Richardson's Campaign Contributions]
*[http://www.hermanos.org/Backfire.htm ''Annals of Diplomacy Backfire'', Carl Nagin, The New Yorker]
*[http://www.loyola.edu/dept/politics/intel/lee/bellows18.pdf Final Report of the Attorney General's Review Team on the Handling of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Investigation] ("The Bellows Report") (May 2000)
* 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
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* 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
{{succession box | before=[[Madeleine Albright]] | title=[[United States Ambassadors to the United Nations|U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.]] | years=1997-1998 | after=[[Richard Holbrooke]]}}
{{succession box | before=[[Federico Peña]] | title=[[United States Secretary of Energy]] | years=1998-2001 | after=[[Spencer Abraham]]}}
{{incumbent succession box| before=[[Gary Johnson]]| title=[[List of Governors of New Mexico|Governor of New Mexico]]| start=2002| }}
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[[Category:Governors of New Mexico|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:U.S. Secretaries of Energy|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:Ambassadors of the United States|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:Members of the U.S. House of Representatives|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:1947 births|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:People from New Mexico|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:Latino Politicians|Richardson, Bill]]
[[Category:U.S. Representatives from New Mexico|Richardson, Bill]]
[[de:Morris-Wasserlabyrinth]]
==External links==
* [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:Mazes]]
[[fr:Bill Richardson]]
[[Category:Neuroscience]]
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