Sound intensities between 40 dB and 50 dB are suitable for acoustic-cued water maze tests

Abstract We carried out an acoustic-cued water maze experiment at three sound intensity levels (30 dB, 40 dB, and 50 dB) in 30 mice (10 per group), aiming to determine the sound intensity suitable for an acoustic-cued water maze. The results showed that sound intensities at both 40 dB and 50 dB were effective in terms of the escape latency, the first crossing, the crossing number, and the quadrant time, and the effectiveness of both were about the same. On the other hand, a sound intensity of 30 dB was not as effective because there was no statistically significant improvement in escape latency across training days. Therefore, we consider sound intensities between 40 dB and 50 dB to be suitable for acoustic-cued water maze tests.