# Useful things to know about Arena settings

Define different Arena Settings in the same experiment

Arena Settings define the configuration of arenas and zones in an experiment. You can create as many Arena Settings as you want. This can be useful if your trials are carried out with different zones configuration. For example, when the position of the hidden platform changes in different trials in a Morris water maze experiment.

Arena Settings in the Experiment Explorer

All Arena Settings you create are listed under Arena Settings in the Experiment Explorer.

To open Arena Settings, choose Setup > Arena Settings > Open, or in the Experiment Explorer, under Arena Settings, click one of the Arena Settings.

The Arena Settings currently active are shown in blue. Acquisition is done using those settings, unless you specify otherwise in the Trial list or in the Acquisition Settings window.

Read-only Arena Settings

Arena Settings that have been used in acquisition are 'read-only' and can not be renamed or deleted. Read-only Arena Settings are indicated by a small lock symbol in the Arena Settings icon.

You can make an editable duplicate of read-only Arena Settings, edit it and use the new settings for acquisition. Alternatively you can delete all trials, which unlocks the read-only arena settings. In addition:

▪Zones that are used in Trial Control cannot be deleted or edited.

▪You can add new zones to read-only arena settings.

See also

▪Settings and profiles

Working with layers

The elements of the Arena Settings are organized in layers.

▪To display arenas, zones, calibrations and background image on your screen, select an arena, zone group, zone, calibration or background image by clicking its row in the Arenas and Zones section. This way you can highlight the correct layer.

▪To hide a layer, deselect the corresponding check box in the View column.

▪To view more than one layer at the same time in the video image, select the appropriate check boxes in the View column. In the figure below, Arena 1 and Background are selected in the View column and therefore visible.

See also

▪Organize the zones in your arena