LimeLight Analysis

The heart of the LimeLight program is the analysis window, shown here at not quite full size. The complete list of animals contained in a data file is shown to the left. Clicking on an animal instantly brings up its motion path. If the images from the trial were stored, a movie of the trial is available for viewing using the video buttons (and attached key commands) below the image.

• The analysis of the trial is shown to the right. Here the number of crossings per grid square are shown as an intensity graph. A checkbox to the right changes the display to table format with numbers for each grid square. The pull down menu currently set to “Crossings” is used to select from the many different analysis parameters, such as distance travelled, time in each grid square, mean length in each grid square, latency to each square and so on. Double-clicking the colormap exports the data to a text file and opens the file into Excel.
• A portion of each trial can be analyzed (instead of the whole trial) by toggling the All/Part checkbox and setting the starting and ending time of the part of the trial one wants to analyze. Or, cut into multiple intervals.
• Scored behaviors are shown to the lower right. Double clicking the graph opens a more detailed analysis.
• Adjust the grid or create custom zones from arbitrary groups of grid squares by double-clicking the image.
• Separate windows are accessible for viewing distance and speed against time, mean distance to center, animal length and circling. Any selected parameter can be exported directly to an open Excel spreadsheet for instant viewing and statistical analysis.
• The current path shows the track of the animal’s body (center of mass). The pull-down menu to the right allows display of the track taken by the animal’s nose or tail.
• Menu items open windows for the display and export of more complex analyses, such as animal length, speed and distance against time, mean distance to center, etc.