This task is a simple, visual (non-spatial) discrimination task in which an animal must learn to associate a visual cue with escape (the platform). This task is especially useful for assessing cognition in mice with motor impairments as the accuracy of their "choices" (swimming either towards the light or away from the light) can be measured independently of their latency of escape, which can obviously be confounded by poorer swimming performance. Cognitive flexibility can also be assessed through reversal trials in which the platform is switched to the opposite end of the tank. The swim tank is a simple learning protocol where mice learn to escape an aversive water environment by climbing onto a platform. The location of the platform is signaled by a cue (light) at one end of the aquarium, so mice need to learn to associate the cue with the position of the platform. Mice are placed in the center of a water-filled aquarium and the choice of direction towards the platform is recorded.

Mutant R6/2 mice show similar acquisition of the task during training compared to Wild Type littermates (WT), but cognitive impairment is observed compared to WT mice during reversal in the Cued Two Choice Swim test