# Protocol to build open-source Discrimin8 maze to study discrimination of reward-context associations in mice during open-field foraging

## TL;DR

This paper provides a detailed protocol for building and using an open-source maze to study how mice distinguish reward contexts during foraging.

## Contribution

The novel contribution is a low-cost, open-source Discrimin8 maze protocol for studying context discrimination in freely moving mice.

## Key findings

- The Discrimin8 maze enables automated study of context-specific memory in mice.
- Custom-written codes allow precise control and calibration of the maze for behavioral tasks.

## Abstract

The hippocampus is known to process context-specific memories. We provide a protocol for studying context discrimination in mice utilizing the open-source Discrimin8 maze. We describe the steps for building the maze and using custom-written codes implementing the task. Finally, instructions are provided to train mice on the task. This protocol implements a low-cost, automated maze allowing for investigation of context discrimination in freely moving mice.

For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Tarcsay et al.1

•Instructions to build the Discrimin8 maze•Guidance to calibrate the custom-written codes to control the maze•Steps for testing context discrimination in a discrimination/generalization task

Instructions to build the Discrimin8 maze

Guidance to calibrate the custom-written codes to control the maze

Steps for testing context discrimination in a discrimination/generalization task

Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

The hippocampus is known to process context-specific memories. We provide a protocol for studying context discrimination in mice utilizing the open-source Discrimin8 maze. We describe the steps for building the maze and using custom-written codes implementing the task. Finally, instructions are provided to train mice on the task. This protocol implements a low-cost, automated maze allowing for investigation of context discrimination in freely moving mice.