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Barnes maze strategy analysis - UNMC method
Introduction
The Barnes maze stategy analysis described here is based on techniques developed by the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
ANY-maze can detect Direct, Serial or Random strategies in the Barnes maze.
| • | The Direct strategy occurs when the animal goes directly to the target hole, or to a hole within the 'target region' (being holes within a set distance of the target hole, for example, one or two holes either side) and then to the target hole, without visiting any holes outside the target region or visiting the centre. |
| • | The Serial strategy occurs when the animal visits a series of consecutive holes, for example, it might need to visit three holes in sequence, such as hole 1, 2 and 3. In fact the animal can optional skip one or more holes, so visits to holes 1, 3 and 4 might still be considered a serial strategy. If the animal ends a series of serial movements but then immediately starts them again, then the serial strategy doesn't end. For example, visits to holes 1, 2, 3 and then to holes 14, 15, 16, would all be considered part of a continuous serial strategy. |
| • | The random strategy occurs when the animal isn't using a Direct or Serial strategy. For example, visits to holes 2, 16, 6 would be Random. |
In many experiments, the test ends when the animal finds the target hole. However, if you choose to let the test continue, ANY-maze will keep analysing the animal's strategy. Note, however, that the strategy analysis resets when the animal finds the escape hole.
For example, if the target hole is 4 and the animal visits zones 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, and 8, ANY-maze will initially classify the behaviour as a Serial strategy based on the sequence of visits from the start of the test. Once the animal finds the escape hole (zone 4), the analysis resets. From that point on, the subsequent moves (4, 5, 13, 8) will be analysed separately and reported as a Random strategy starting at the moment the target hole was found.
 | We appreciate that there are different ways of analysing strategy in the Barnes maze, so if you have a different method in mind, please do contact ANY-maze Support and we'll be happy to discuss it with you. |
Analysis during a test
ANY-maze automatically analyses the animal's behaviour during the test and can report the current strategy. In this situation the strategy often won't be known for a little while; for example, if the animal starts the test by visiting to hole 1, then hole 2 and then hole 3, ANY-maze will recognise that as a Serial strategy, but only on the move to hole 3, because had the animal moved to hole 10, for example, then it would have started a Random strategy. In either case the strategy is deemed to have started at the beginning of the test (i.e. time 0). Similarly, if the animal is using a serial strategy, perhaps visiting holes 7, 6, 5, 4 and then it cross the centre, then ANY-maze waits to see what happens next - if it then visits holes 2, 8 then it has changed to a Random strategy, which began when it entered the centre zone.
When analysing strategy changes during the test, ANY-maze reports both the new strategy and when it started to be used.
Analysis post test
After a test is complete, ANY-maze will analyse the strategies used during the test and report a wide range of measures, including: the number of times each strategy was used, how long each strategy was used for, a list of the different strategies, etc. You'll find the full list of measures here.
As is usual in ANY-maze, should you change something relating to the strategy analysis, perhaps altering where the target hole was located in the test, then ANY-maze will automatically reanalyse the strategies used in the affected tests and all the results will update - this typically takes just a few seconds.
Setting up Barnes maze strategy analysis
The various settings required to setup strategy analysis in the Barnes maze are described in detail here
See also:
| • | Setting up Barnes maze strategy analysis |
| • | Why Barnes maze strategy analysis sometimes can't be performed during a test |
| • | UNMC Barnes maze strategy analysis measures |
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ANY-maze help topic T1463