# Cumulative zones

Aim

To analyze two or more zones, as one. With the procedure below you create a cumulative zone, using two or more existing zones.

note The original zones are not deleted. The Cumulative zone is added as a new zone, outside the original zone group.

example In an Elevated plus maze test, you defined two open arms and two closed arms. To analyze the total time spent in either arm type, define the two open arms as cumulative zone Open arms, and the two closed arms as cumulative zone Closed arms.

You can add zones from different zone groups to a cumulative zone.

Procedure

1.In the Arenas and Zones section, click a zone group in which you want to create a cumulative zone.

2.Click the Add Cumulative Zone button at the bottom of the Arenas and Zones section.

3.In the Add Cumulative Zone window you have two options:

Create new cumulative zone. Type in the name of the new cumulative zone, click OK and select the zones in the window that appears.

Use existing cumulative zone. From the drop-down list, choose the name of an existing cumulative zone in another Arena Settings.

Duplicate a cumulative zone

Use the option Use existing cumulative zone to replicate a cumulative zone that was defined in another Arena Settings profile, and you want to include it in a new Arena Settings.

Make sure that, when you do this, all the zones that make up the existing cumulative zone are also defined in the new Arena Settings.

example In a radial-arm maze test, four zones can be either baited or not baited. In some trials zone 1 and 3 are baited, in some other trials zones 2 and 4 are baited.

1.In Arena Settings 1, define all zones. Next, define a cumulative zone Baited with zones 1 and 3.

tip you can double-click the label Cumulative zone 1 and rename it to Baited.

2.Create a new Arena Settings (or duplicate Arena Settings 2). Make sure the all relevant zones are defined.

3.Swap the labels for the zones.

4.If you created Arena Settings 2 anew, create a cumulative zone and choose Use existing cumulative zone. Choose the existing cumulative zone from Arena Settings 1.

If you have duplicated Arena Settings 1 to obtain Arena Settings 2, the cumulative zone is already pointing to the correct zones after you swap the labels.

Note that the same physical zone is labeled with different names in the two Arena Settings profiles; take this into account when you analyze single zones.

important We advise you not to rename the cumulative zone in Arena Settings 2 when pointing to physical zones other than those in Arena Settings1. If you do so the name also changes in Arena Settings 1, and that would create confusion.

Notes

▪A cumulative zone is not the same as a zone group.

A zone group is one of the layers in the Arena Settings, where zones are always analyzed separately.

A cumulative zone is just an extra zone, outside the zone group it origins from. For example, zones S2 and S3 form Cumulative zone 1.