Programmable electronic maze for use in the assessment of animal behavior

A dynamic maze, comprising:

• an enclosure, for holding a test subject, defined by multiple boundary surfaces;
• and
• at least two removable obstacles under control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing at least one of the at least two obstacles through a boundary surface of the maze.

A dynamic maze for studying a test subject, comprising:

• a programmable flooring having a plurality of floor plates such that each floor plate is capable of being a reward or punishment to the test subject traversing the maze.

A method of re-configuring a maze, comprising:

• receiving data from a test subject in the maze;
• and
• re-configuring design of the maze by inserting or removing at least one obstacle from the maze through a boundary surface of the maze, based on the data without intervention from a user.

A method of assessing the ability of a test subject to solve a maze, comprising:

• delivering at least one of rewarding or noxious stimulus to the test subject depending on path taken by the test subject in the maze;
• and
• re-configuring the maze without user intervention based on ability of the test subject to traverse through the maze.

A method to assess ability of an animal to solve mazes of differing complexities, comprising:

• recording ability of a test subject to traverse through a maze;
• and
• re-configuring the maze without user intervention to various levels of complexity based on the ability of the test subjects to traverse the maze.

A dynamic maze, comprising:

• an interior maze volume defined by multiple boundary surfaces;
• and
• at least two removable obstacles under control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting or removing at least one of the at least two obstacles through a boundary surface of the maze such that the maze rapidly re-configures for measurement of different behavioral responses of a test subject.

A dynamic maze, comprising:

• at least one removable obstacle wherein the obstacle is under control of a programmable system that configures the maze by inserting the obstacle into the maze or removing the obstacle from the maze and wherein the obstacle transmits a primary stimulus to a test subject in a rewarding or noxious manner, and
• a secondary stimulus that can reinforce or conflict with the primary stimulus.

The maze according to 70, wherein the tube further comprises:

• at least one floor plate capable of being an obstacle.