Nose contact

Definition

A discrete (state event) variable that is scored when the focal subject’s nose is near the nose point (see below, left) or the tail-base point (right) of another subject.

Calculation

▪Nose-nose contact is scored when the distance between the nose-point of the focal subject is at less than 15 pixels (26 mm for Live Mouse Tracker arenas) from the nose-point of another subject.

▪Nose-anogenital contact is scored when the distance between the nose-point of the focal subject is at less than 15 pixels (26 mm for Live Mouse Tracker arenas) from the tail-base point of another subject.

How to specify Nose contact

1.Open an Analysis profile and in the Dependent Variables panel, under Live Mouse Tracker, click the Add button next to Nose contact.

2.Under Calculate Statistics for, select Nose-nose contact, Nose-anogenital contact, or both.

3.Click the Receivers tab.

Under Select, choose the subjects that the focal subject was in nose contact with. If you select two or more subjects, select one of the available options from the list:

▪All selected subjects: Nose contact is scored when the focal subject was in contact with all the subjects selected above.

▪Any selected subject: Nose contact is scored when the focal subject was in contact with any of the subjects selected above.

▪Each subject: Nose contact is scored when the focal subject was in contact with one of the subjects selected above. The results are displayed for each Receiver.

4.Complete the procedure to add the variable to the Analysis profile. See Calculate statistics: procedure

Example

A Nose contact variable has been defined with both options Nose-nose contact and Nose-anogenital contact selected. Below you find the Integrated visualization of this variable. Note that the results are split based on the subject that the focal subject is in contact with. In the current video image, Subject A (red dot) is in nose contact with Subject D (dark green dot).

In the Trial Statistics results table, with the default layout, the results of Nose contact are shown per subject (on the rows). The columns vary depending on what you chose in the Receivers tab (see above).

▪If you chose Each subject, the columns contain the statistics of Nose contact with specific subjects (for example, Nose-nose contact / A to D).

▪If you chose All selected subjects or Any selected subject, a column Nose-nose (or Nose-anogenital) / All of A, B, C, D or Nose-nose (or Nose-anogenital) / Any of A, B, C, D contains cumulative statistics of Nose contact when the subject was in contact with all cage mates simultaneously or with any of them, respectively, depending on which option you chose.

Notes

▪For this variable, Live Mouse tracker takes the distance between the body points on the X,Y plane, and ignores their Z coordinates.

▪In the Analysis profile under Social, you find Body contact. This is a variable that quantifies the level of generic body contact between subjects.