Being there: a novel demonstration of latent spatial learning in the rat.

Latent spatial learning was studied in 30 male, hooded, Long–Evans rats using the Morris water task. All rats were trained to swim to a small, invisible platform from several locations in a circular pool of water. Rats who, prior to training, had been repeatedly placed on the platform in the correct location showed faster acquisition of spatial localization than naive rats or rats who had been placed on the platform in an incorrect location. These results provide a novel and simple demonstration of latent spatial learning and offer a potentially powerful technique for studying the neurological bases of acquisition and usage of spatial representations.