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ANY-maze help and support centre > The ANY-maze reference > The principal pages of ANY-maze > The Protocol page > The elements of a protocol > Zones > Zone measures
Zone measures
 | ANY-maze has been designed to be extended and we'll be delighted to add any new measures you might find useful, for free! - just contact ANY-maze technical support. |
ANY-maze will score the following measures for a zone:
Number of entries to the zone
| Description | Counts the number of times the animal entered the zone. |
| Calculation method | Depends on the method used to detect zone entries - see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for more details. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. |
Was first zone entered
| Description | Reports whether the zone was the first zone the animal entered in the test. |
| Calculation method | Calculated by detecting the first zone entry in the test. This is affected by the "Don't score any results in this zone until the first 'true' entry" option on the Zone entry settings page. See Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for more details. |
| Analysis across time | This measure cannot be analysed across time. |
| Notes | The result of this measure is either YES or NO, therefore when analysed it will be treated as a 2 level nominal value - see Statistical tests included in ANY-maze. |
This measure is not available for analysis across time - it can only be reported for the test as a whole.
Time in the zone
| Description | Reports the total amount of time the animal spent in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Calculated by summing the duration of each visit to the zone where a visit starts at the time of a zone entry and ends at the time of a zone exit. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the amount of the period that the animal spent in the zone. For example, if an animal entered a zone at time 45 seconds and exited it at time 80 seconds, then for the time period 30-60 seconds the result would be 15 seconds. |
Distance travelled in the zone
| Description | Reports the distance the animal travelled while in the zone |
| Calculation method | Calculated by summing the distance travelled during each visit to the zone. A visit starts when an animal enters the zone and ends when it exits the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the distance travelled within the zone during that time period. |
| Notes | As the position of the animal prior to a zone entry must, by definition, be outside the zone and the position after it enters the zone must be inside, the distance between the two positions will be partly outside and partly inside the zone. ANY-maze adds all this distance to the distance travelled in the zone the animal's leaving. Although this can lead to inaccuracies they are generally very small because: a) ANY-maze detects many positions per second so the distance between any two positions is usually very small; b) Any small distance "lost" when the animal enters a zone entry is usually counterbalanced by a small distance which is "gained" when it leaves the zone - see figure 1. |
Figure 1. When the zone change at point "X" is detected, ANY-maze adds all the distance "A" to the distance travelled in the "Outer zone". When the second zone change, at point "Y", is detected, ANY-maze adds all the distance "B" to the distance travelled in the "Inner zone". [Note: Distances A and B have been exaggerated in this diagram to aid explanation.]
In some situations tracks can have small oscillations in them which tend to generate unrepresentatively large values for distance travelled. This occurs most often when an animal travels slowly while moving its body a lot - for example, while exploring an open field. To overcome this ANY-maze uses an adaptive smoothing algorithm to attenuate these oscillations when calculating distance travelled - see figure 2. Note: The definition of what's a small oscillation is based on the animal's size.
Figure 2. Measuring the length of the actual track (shown in orange) would yield an unrepresentatively large value for distance travelled. ANY-maze uses a "smoothed" track (shown in green) to better estimate the true distance travelled. [Note: The oscillations in this track have been exaggerated to aid explanation.]
Latency to first entry to the zone
| Description | Reports the length of time which elapsed before the animal entered the zone for the first time. |
| Calculation method | This value is the time at which the first zone entry occurred. If the animal doesn't enter the zone during the test then the result is undefined. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the time from the start of the period to the first entry. If the animal doesn't enter the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
| Notes | This measure is affected by the "Don't score any results in this zone until the first 'true' entry" option on the Zone entry settings page. See Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for more details. |
Latency to first exit from the zone
| Description | Reports the length of time which elapsed before the animal exited the zone for the first time. |
| Calculation method | This value is the time at which the first zone exit occurred. If the animal doesn't exit the zone during the test then the result is undefined. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the time from the start of the period to the first exit. If the animal doesn't exit the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
| Notes | This measure is affected by the "Don't score any results in this zone until the first 'true' entry" option on the Zone entry settings page. See Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for more details. |
Average speed in the zone
| Description | Reports the average speed of the animal while it was in the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the Distance travelled in the zone during the time period divided by the Time spent in the zone during the time period. If the animal was never in the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
| Notes | If you want to know the average speed in the zone while mobile (i.e. ignoring periods when the animal was stationary) then use a calculation of "Distance travelled in the zone / Time mobile in the zone". |
Longest visit to the zone
| Description | Reports the duration of the longest single visit to the zone. |
| Calculation method | Each zone visit is delineated by a zone entry and a zone exit - the time between the two is the duration of the visit. The duration of each visit is calculated and the largest value is found. If the animal was never in the zone during the test then the result is zero. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the duration of the longest visit to the zone during the time period. If the animal spent the entire period in the zone then the result will be the duration of the time period itself. |
Shortest visit to the zone
| Description | Reports the duration of the shortest single visit to the zone. |
| Calculation method | Each zone visit is delineated by a zone entry and a zone exit - the time between the two is the duration of the visit. The duration of each visit is calculated and the smallest value is found. If the animal was never in the zone during the test then the result is zero. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the duration of the shortest visit to the zone during the time period. |
Average duration of visit to the zone
| Description | Reports the average duration of visits to the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is Time spent in the zone during the time period divided by the Number of entries to the zone in the time period. If the animal was never in the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
Time mobile in the zone
| Description | Reports the total time that the animal was mobile in the zone. |
Time immobile in the zone
| Description | Reports the total time that the animal was immobile in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Sums the duration of each immobile episode in the zone - see notes for the definition of an immobile episode. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the sum of the duration of each immobile episode in the zone during the period. |
| Notes | An immobile episode in the zone starts when the animal becomes immobile after being mobile or when the animal is already immobile and enters the zone. Generally it's unlikely that an immobile animal will enter a zone because to enter the zone it will probably have to be mobile. Nevertheless if the animal is immobile right on the border of a zone it could enter the zone by moving very slightly but not by enough to end the immobile episode. |
An immobile episode in the zone ends when the animal becomes mobile or when it leaves the zone.
The definition of immobility depends on the current tracking options - see Detecting immobility.
Immobile episodes in the zone
| Description | Reports the number of times the animal became immobile while in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Counts the number of times the animal changed from being mobile to being immobile while in the zone. If an immobile animal enters a zone (see note below) then the entry will be considered to start a new immobile episode in the zone, i.e. the count of immobile episodes in the zone will be incremented. This means that the sum of the immobile episodes in all the zones may be greater than the number of immobile episodes in the apparatus as a whole. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the number of immobile episodes that started in the zone during the time period. If an animal is already immobile in the zone at the start of the time period then a new immobile episode is NOT counted for the period. This means that it's possible to have a period for which the result of this measure is zero but the result for the Time immobile in the zone is not zero. |
| Notes | An immobile episode in the zone starts when the animal becomes immobile after being mobile or when the animal is already immobile and enters the zone. Generally it's unlikely that an immobile animal will enter a zone because to enter the zone it will probably have to be mobile. Nevertheless if the animal is immobile right on the border of a zone it could enter the zone by moving very slightly but not by enough to end the immobile episode. |
An immobile episode in the zone ends when the animal becomes mobile or when it leaves the zone.
The definition of immobility depends on the current tracking options - see Detecting immobility.
Time active in the zone
| Description | Reports the total time that the animal was active in the zone. |
| Notes | As animal is active if it is either mobile OR it's performing some other behaviour which has been specified as an activity - grooming for example. |
Time inactive in the zone
| Description | Reports the total time that the animal was inactive in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Sums the duration of each inactive episode in the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the sum of the duration of each inactive episode in the zone during the period. |
| Notes | An inactive episode in the zone starts when the animal becomes inactive after being active or when the animal enters the zone and is already inactive. An inactive episode in the zone ends when an animal becomes active or when it leaves the zone. |
Inactivity is defined as NOT activity. An animal is defined to be active if it is either mobile OR it's performing some other behaviour which has been specified as an activity - for example grooming. If the tracking options specify that mobility should not be detected then activity analysis will be based purely on the performance of other behaviours.
Inactive episodes in the zone
| Description | Reports the total number of times the animal became inactive while in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Counts the number of times the animal changed from being active to being inactive while in the zone. If an inactive animal enters a zone then the entry will be considered to start a new inactivity episode in the zone, i.e. the count of inactive episodes in the zone will be incremented. This means that the sum of the inactive episodes in all the zones may be greater than the number of inactive episodes in the apparatus as a whole. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the number of inactive episodes that started in the zone during the time period. If an animal is already inactive in the zone at the start of the time period then a new inactive episode is NOT counted for the period. This means that it's possible to have a period for which the result of this measure is zero but the result for the Time inactive in the zone is not zero. |
| Notes | An inactive episode in the zone starts when the animal becomes inactive after being active or when the animal enters the zone and is already inactive. An inactive episode in the zone ends when an animal becomes active or when it leaves the zone. |
Average distance from the zone
| Description | Reports the average distance from the animal to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone for every position of the animal that is outside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. |
Having determined the distance from the zone ANY-maze maintains a cumulative sum of each distance multiplied by the time the animal remained at that distance. The final result for the average distance from the zone is this cumulative sum divided by the total duration of the test or period.
The reason the system works this way is best explained using an example. Imagine the animal was 50cm from a zone and remained there for 55 seconds; it then moved to be 30cm from the zone and remained there for 5 second; the test then ended. Just taking the average of the two distances would imply that the average distance from the zone was 40cm but this is very misleading as the animal spent almost the entire test 50cm from the zone. Instead ANY-maze would calculate the average distance as [(50 x 55) + (30 x 5)] / 60 = 48.33cm Effectively, the system weights the distances depending on how long the animal remained there.
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
Maximum distance from the zone
| Description | Reports the maximum distance from the animal to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone for every position of the animal that is outside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. Having determined the distance from the animal to zone the system simply notes the maximum value during the test or time period. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is the maximum distance considering just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
Minimum distance from the zone
| Description | Reports the minimum distance from the animal to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone for every position of the animal that is outside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. Having determined the distance from the animal to zone the system simply notes the minimum value during the test or time period. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is the minimum distance considering just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal enters the zone then this value is automatically set to zero. |
Average distance to the zone border
| Description | Reports the average distance from the animal to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone border for every position of the animal that is inside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone border will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone border will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest border of the zone. |
Having determined the distance to the zone border ANY-maze maintains a cumulative sum of each distance multiplied by the time the animal remained at that distance. The final result for the average distance to the zone border is this cumulative sum divided by the total duration of the test or period.
The reason the system works this way is best explained using an example. Imagine the animal was 20cm from a zone border and remained there for 55 seconds; it then moved to be 10cm from the zone border and remained there for 5 second; the test then ended. Just taking the average of the two distances would imply that the average distance from the zone border was 15cm but this is very misleading as the animal spent almost the entire test 20cm from the border. Instead ANY-maze would calculate the average distance as [(20 x 55) + (10 x 5)] / 60 = 19.16cm Effectively, the system weights the distances depending on how long the animal remained there.
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal never enters the zone then the result is undefined. |
Maximum distance to the zone border
| Description | Reports the maximum distance from the animal to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone border for every position of the animal that is inside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone border will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone border will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest border of the zone. Having determined the distance to the border the system simply notes the maximum value during the test or time period. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is the maximum distance considering just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal never enters the zone then the result is undefined. |
Minimum distance to the zone border
| Description | Reports the minimum distance from the animal to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone border for every position of the animal that is inside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone border will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone border will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest border of the zone. Having determined the distance to the border the system simply notes the minimum value during the test or time period. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is the minimum distance considering just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal never enters the zone then the result is undefined. If the animal exits the zone this value is automatically set to zero. |
Time moving towards the zone
| Description | Reports the total amount of time that the animal was outside the zone and was moving towards it. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone for every position of the animal that is outside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. |
Having calculated the distance to the zone, ANY-maze compares it to previous distance to the zone, if it is less then the animal is deemed to be moving towards the zone and the time from the previous position to this one is added to the total time moving towards the zone. Note that very small movements of the animal will be ignored by the system (the definition of very small being based on the animal's size).
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is calculated differently to the Time moving towards a point. The point measure uses the angle between the vector of the animal's movement and the vector from the animal to the point to determine whether the animal is moving towards the point. This method is superior to that used here. However, as a zone is not a point it is not possible to create a vector from the animal to the zone and therefore this method cannot be used for calculation of movement towards a zone. For this reason you may wish to place a point inside a zone (assumedly at the centre) and use the time moving towards the point as a measure of the time moving towards the zone. |
Time moving away from the zone
| Description | Reports the total amount of time that the animal was outside the zone and was moving away from it. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal to the zone for every position of the animal that is outside the zone. Exactly how this is done depends on whether zone entries (sic) are set to use the entire area of the animal or the animal's centre point (see Choosing how ANY-maze should detect entries into a zone for details). If entries are based on the entire area of the animal then the calculation of the distance from the animal to the zone will also be based on the entire area of the animal - specifically the system will use the distance from the point on the animal's edge that is closest to the zone border; on the other hand if zone entries are based on the centre of the animal then the distance to the zone will also be based on the centre of the animal - i.e. the distance to the zone will simply be the distance from the centre to the nearest part of the zone. |
Having calculated the distance to the zone, ANY-maze compares it to previous distance to the zone, if it is greater then the animal is deemed to be moving away from the zone and the time from the previous position to this one is added to the total time moving away from the zone. Note that very small movements of the animal will be ignored by the system (the definition of very small being based on the animal's size).
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is calculated differently to the Time moving away from a point. The point measure uses the angle between the vector of the animal's movement and the vector from the animal to the point, to determine whether the animal is moving away from the point. This method is superior to that used here. However, as a zone is not a point it is not possible to create a vector from the animal to the zone and therefore this method cannot be used for calculation of movement away from a zone. For this reason you may wish to place a point inside a zone (assumedly at the centre) and use the time moving away from the point as a measure of the time moving away from the zone. |
Absolute turn angle while in the zone
| Description | Reports the sum of the absolute angle between each movement vector of the animal while it was inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | For each position of the animal that is inside the zone, a vector of movement from one position of the animal's centre point to the next is created. For each vector the angle between it and the previous vector is calculated with anti-clockwise movement being negative and clockwise movement being positive (i.e. the angle is from -180° to 180°). The absolute value of this angle is summed for all the positions of the animal within the zone throughout the test or time period. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions within the specific time period. |
| Notes | From this measure it is easy to use calculations to derive measures such as Meander in the zone and Angular velocity in the zone. The former is the Absolute turn angle while in the zone divided by the Distance travelled in the zone and the latter is the Absolute turn angle while in the zone divided by the Time in the zone. |
Time the animal's head was in the zone
| Description | Reports the total amount of time that the animal's head was in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Calculated by summing the duration of each visit of the animal's head to the zone where a visit starts at the time the animal's head entered the zone and ends at the time the animal's head exited the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the amount of the period that the animal's head spent in the zone. For example, if an animal's head entered a zone at time 45 seconds and exited it at time 80 seconds, then for the time period 30-60 seconds the result would be 15 seconds. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Number of entries of the animal's head into the zone
| Description | Counts the number of times the animal's head entered the zone. |
| Calculation method | Counts the number of times the animal's head position changed from being outside the zone to being inside it. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those head positions within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Distance travelled by the animal's head in the zone
| Description | Reports the distance the animal's head travelled while the head was in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Calculated by summing the distance travelled by the animal's head during each visit to the zone. A visit starts when the animal's head enters the zone and ends when it exits the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. |
| Notes | As the position of the animal's head prior to a zone entry must, by definition, be outside the zone and the position after it enters the zone must be inside, the distance between the two positions will be partly outside and partly inside the zone. ANY-maze adds all this distance to the distance travelled by the animal's head in the zone that the animal is leaving. Although this can lead to inaccuracies they are generally very small because: a) ANY-maze detects many positions per second so the distance between any two positions is usually very small; b) Any small distance "lost" when the animal enters a zone entry is usually counterbalanced by a small distance which is "gained" when it leaves the zone. |
This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on.
Latency to the first entry of the animal's head into the zone
| Description | Reports the length of time which elapsed before the animal's head entered the zone for the first time. |
| Calculation method | This value is the time at which the animal's head first entered the zone. If the animal's head doesn't enter the zone during the test then the result is undefined. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the time from the start of the period to the first entry of the animal's head into the zone. If the animal's head doesn't enter the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Latency to the first exit of the animal's head from the zone
| Description | Reports the length of time which elapsed before the animal's head exited the zone for the first time. |
| Calculation method | This value is the time at which the animal's head first exited the zone. If the animal doesn't exit the zone during the test then the result is undefined. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. For any time period the result is the time from the start of the period to the first exit of the animal's head from the zone. If the animal's head doesn't exit the zone during the time period then the result is undefined. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Average distance of the animal's head from the zone
| Description | Reports the average distance from the animal's head to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal's head to the closest point on the zone border for every position of the animal's head that is outside the zone. The system maintains a cumulative sum of each distance multiplied by the time the animal remained at that distance. The final result for the average distance of the animal's head from the zone is this cumulative sum divided by the total duration of the test or period. |
The reason the system works this way is best explained using an example. Imagine the animal's head was 50cm from a zone and remained there for 55 seconds; it then moved to be 30cm from the zone and remained there for 5 second; the test then ended. Just taking the average of the two distances would imply that the average distance from the zone was 40cm but this is very misleading as the animal spent almost the entire test 50cm from the zone. Instead ANY-maze would calculate the average distance as [(50 x 55) + (30 x 5)] / 60 = 48.33cm Effectively, the system weights the distances depending on how long the animal remained there.
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Maximum distance of the animal's head from the zone
| Description | Reports the maximum distance from the animal's head to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | For each position of the animal's head that is outside the zone, ANY-maze calculates the distance from the head to the closest point on the zone border. This maximum such distance is found. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Minimum distance of the animal's head from the zone
| Description | Reports the minimum distance from the animal's head to the zone when the animal is outside the zone. |
| Calculation method | For each position of the animal's head that is outside the zone, ANY-maze calculates the distance from the head to the closest point on the zone border. This minimum such distance is found. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on. |
Average distance from the animal's head to the zone border
| Description | Reports the average distance from the animal's head to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | ANY-maze calculates the distance from the animal's head to the closest point on the zone border for every position of the animal's head that is inside the zone. The system maintains a cumulative sum of each distance multiplied by the time the animal remained at that distance. The final result for the average distance to the zone border is this cumulative sum divided by the total duration of the test or period. |
The reason the system works this way is best explained using an example. Imagine the animal's head was 20cm from a zone border and remained there for 55 seconds; it then moved to be 10cm from the zone border and remained there for 5 second; the test then ended. Just taking the average of the two distances would imply that the average distance from the animal's head to the zone border was 15cm but this is very misleading as the animal's head spent almost the entire test 20cm from the border. Instead ANY-maze would calculate the average distance as [(20 x 55) + (10 x 5)] / 60 = 19.16cm Effectively, the system weights the distances depending on how long the animal remained there.
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal's head never enters the zone then the result is undefined. |
This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on.
Maximum distance from the animal's head to the zone border
| Description | Reports the maximum distance from the animal's head to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | For each position of the animal's head that is inside the zone, ANY-maze calculates the distance from the head to the closest point on the zone border. This maximum such distance is found. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal's head never enters the zone then the result is undefined. |
This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on.
Minimum distance from the animal's head to the zone border
| Description | Reports the minimum distance from the animal's head to the border of the zone when the animal is inside the zone. |
| Calculation method | For each position of the animal's head that is inside the zone, ANY-maze calculates the distance from the head to the closest point on the zone border. This minimum such distance is found. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. The result is based on just those positions of the animal's head that fall within the time period. |
| Notes | If the animal's head never enters the zone then the result is undefined. |
This measure is only available if Head tracking is turned on.
Number of rears in the zone
| Description | Reports the number of times the animal reared while in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Counts the number of times rearing started while the animal was in the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
Total time rearing in the zone
| Description | Reports the total amount of time for which the animal was rearing while it was in the zone. |
| Calculation method | Sums the duration of each bout of rearing that occurred while the animal was in the zone. If the animal enters the zone when it is already rearing then the time will be counted from the time the animal entered the zone and not when the rearing bout started. If the animal exits the zone while rearing then the time will stop at the time the animal exits the zone and not at the end of the rearing bout. For these reasons it is possible for the result of this measure to be non-zero when the result for Number of rears in the zone is zero. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
Latency to first rear in the zone
| Description | Reports the latency to first time that the animal reared in the zone. |
| Calculation method | The time when the first bout of rearing started while the animal was in the zone |
| Analysis across time | This measure cannot be analysed across time. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
Average duration of a rear in the zone
| Description | Reports the average duration of the rearing bouts in the zone. |
| Analysis across time | This measure can be analysed across time. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
Maximum duration of a rear in the zone
| Description | Reports the duration of the longest bout of rearing in the zone. |
| Calculation method | The duration of each bout of rearing in the zone is calculated and the longest bout is found. Note that a bout of rearing in the zone starts when the animal is in the zone and begins to rear OR when the animal enters the zone when it is already rearing. Similarly a bout ends when the animal is in the zone and stops rearing OR the animal exits the zone while rearing. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
Minimum duration of a rear in the zone
| Description | Reports the duration of the shortest bout of rearing in the zone. |
| Calculation method | The duration of each bout of rearing in the zone is calculated and the shortest bout is found. Note that a bout of rearing in the zone starts when the animal is in the zone and begins to rear OR when the animal enters the zone when it is already rearing. Similarly a bout ends when the animal is in the zone and stops rearing OR the animal exits the zone while rearing. |
| Notes | This measure is only available if the apparatus is being viewed from the side. ANY-maze actually detects rearing by analysing the shape of the animal and therefore this measure will only work reliably if there is good contrast between the animal and the background of the apparatus. |
See also
| | • | An introduction to calculations | |
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ANY-maze help topic H0126
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