Extended analysis of path data from mutant mice using the public domain software Wintrack

Animal tracking by means of videocameras has made considerable progress ove r the past several years and is now being used in a large number of studies . However, the precision and frequency at which xy path data can be recorde d using personal computers contrast with the relative simplicity of the ana lyses commonly conducted with this type of data. In order to achieve more a nalytical power and flexibility in numerical and graphical path analysis, w e have developed Wintrack, a Windows application that processes data from a variety of commercially available tracking systems. The application provid es an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to increase ease and speed of stand ard analysis and graphical representation of data. A flexible scripting lan guage allows the advanced user to extend the capabilities of the program by defining custom arenas and specialized parameters. For example, this permi ts to integrate path data with events recorded through the keyboard or to a dapt the program for the processing of GPS data from outdoors experiments. A macro language allows for fully automated and database-controlled large-s cale data analysis. We are using this feature to develop new analysis param eters for water maze and open-field experiments and to evaluate them retros pectively with reference data from several thousand mice tested in our labo ratory. For noncommercial use, the software can be downloaded free of charg e at www.dpwolfer.ch/wintrack. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights re served.