Knowledge Base

Validate the Manual Scoring Settings

Aim

To have EthoVision XT check that the coding scheme is consistent.

Procedure

In the Manual Scoring Settings screen, click the Validate button or press Ctrl+V. The program checks that the manual scoring settings are valid every time you leave the Manual Scoring Setting screen.

Notes

Manual scoring settings are valid if:

• For Start-Stop behaviors: A key has been selected for both start and stop, or for neither of the two. If you define a start key but not a stop key or vice versa, when leaving the manual scoring settings an error message is displayed.
• For Mutually-exclusive behaviors: All behavior groups contain at least two behaviors, and one is selected as Initially active.
• All behaviors and behavior groups have unique names.

Arena Settings

Introduction to Arena Settings

Learn About

• Important terms in Arena Settings
• Useful things to know about Arena Settings

Important Terms in Arena Settings

Arena

An arena is the region in the video image on the screen in which a moving subject is tracked by EthoVision XT. You can have one or more (up to 100) separate arenas in one screen. If you have multiple arenas, they must not overlap.

Zone

A zone is a specific area of interest within an arena. For example, in a Morris water maze, define the hidden platform as a zone named Platform. You can use a zone to calculate, for example, the time the animal spent in that zone, or the number of zone visits; you can also use a zone for starting and stopping data acquisition.

Point

A point is a dimensionless object that you can use as a reference. For example, an odor source that is the target of an insect. You can define the source as a point, to determine whether the animal is heading towards that spot.

Cumulative Zone

A zone that combines two or more existing zones, so you analyze them as one. For example, the two open arms "Open arm 1" and "Open arm 2" of an Elevated plus maze can be analyzed as a Cumulative zone "Open arms".

Hidden Zone

A zone that you can use to calculate the time that the subject stays out of view, for example in a shelter.

Zone Group

You can organize zones in zone groups. Within one zone group, zones must be non-overlapping.

Useful Things to Know About Arena Settings

Define Different Arena Settings in the Same Experiment

Arena Settings define the configuration of arenas and zones in an experiment. You can create as many Arena Settings as you want. This can be useful if your trials are carried out with different zone configurations. For example, when the position of the hidden platform changes in different trials in a Morris water maze experiment.

Arena Settings in the Experiment Explorer

All Arena Settings you create are listed under Arena Settings in the Experiment Explorer. To open Arena Settings, choose Setup > Arena Settings > Open, or in the Experiment Explorer, under Arena Settings, click one of the Arena Settings. The Arena Settings currently active are shown in blue. Acquisition is done using those settings, unless you specify otherwise in the Trial list or in the Acquisition Settings window.

Read-Only Arena Settings

Arena Settings that have been used in acquisition are read-only and cannot be renamed or deleted. Read-only Arena Settings are indicated by a small lock symbol in the Arena Settings icon. You can make an editable duplicate of read-only Arena Settings, edit it and use the new settings for acquisition. Alternatively you can delete all trials, which unlocks the read-only arena settings. In addition:

• Zones that are used in Trial Control cannot be deleted or edited.
• You can add new zones to read-only arena settings.

Working with Layers

The elements of the Arena Settings are organized in layers.

• To display arenas, zones, calibrations and background image on your screen, select an arena, zone group, zone, calibration or background image by clicking its row in the Arenas and Zones section. This way you can highlight the correct layer.
• To hide a layer, deselect the corresponding check box in the View column.
• To view more than one layer at the same time in the video image, select the appropriate check boxes in the View column.

Make the Arena

Steps

1. Grab the background image
2. Calibrate the arena
3. Draw the arena
4. Define zones (optional) and organize the zones in your arena
5. Validate the Arena Settings

Grab the Background Image

Aim

To create a background that you can use to draw arenas and zones.

Procedure

1. Choose Setup > Arena Settings > New or right-click Arena Settings in the Experiment Explorer and select New. The Grab Background Image window opens.
2. If you track from video, click Browse and open a video file. In the Video window, if possible, browse to a video frame without animals. Then click Grab. If you track live, if possible, remove the animal from the arena and click Grab.
3. Check that the aspect ratio of the background image is correct, and if necessary, adjust it.

Notes

• If the Grab Background Image window shows a white background, that may be due to the graphics card settings. See Troubleshooting > The camera image is not shown in the Arena Settings or Integrated Visualization.
• You can define and update a background of existing Arena Settings at any time, as long as they are not read-only. To do so, click the Grab Background Image button in the lower part of the Arena Settings window.
• For all experiments from video: The default video file shown in the Video window is the last video used to grab a background image.
• For DanioVision experiments: After grabbing the background image, EthoVision XT attempts to detect the well plates and draw the arenas automatically. Check that the outline of the arenas overlap with the well borders. If they do, click Yes in the window that appears.
• When presence of the animal makes it difficult to draw the arena, and it is not possible to grab a background image without the animal, open the Detection Settings. When the animal moves around in the arena, under Method click Background and use the Learn function. This saves a bitmap of the empty arena. Next, in the Arena Settings, click the Grab Background Image button, then Browse and open the Bitmap Files folder within your experiment folder. From the file type list, select All files (*.*) to also view image files. Choose the bitmap image just saved — its name starts with DetProf_. Then click Grab.