.amz Files and NIH Compliance: What AnyMaze Users Need to Know

If your lab uses AnyMaze by Stoelting, your projects are almost certainly stored in a proprietary .amz file. That works fine inside AnyMaze, but it creates problems when you need to share results, archive experiments, or comply with the NIH Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Policy. ConductVision .amz file NIH data conversion solves this challenge […]

How to Turn EthoVision .nod Files into NIH-Compliant Datasets (Without Losing Your Mind)

For behavioral science labs funded by the NIH, converting data into open, shareable formats is no longer optional. It’s mandatory. But what happens when your data lives in a .nod file, the proprietary format used by EthoVision XT? Here’s your go-to guide for understanding .nod files, the roadblocks they pose for data sharing, and how […]

Making Smart Video Tracking Data NIH-Ready with ConductVision

From .svt, .smp, and .exp files to open, shareable, reproducible datasets Introduction If you’re running behavioral experiments using Smart Video Tracking (SVT) from Panlab or Harvard Apparatus, you’re likely working with .svt, .smp, or even .exp files. These project files are essential inside the SVT ecosystem but when it comes time to share your results, […]

Correct Response Latency in the Zebrafish 5-Choice Maze: A Precision Metric for Cognitive Processing Speed

In the quest to quantify cognition, timing is everything. Among the metrics that define executive performance in behavioral neuroscience, Correct Response Latency (CRL), the time it takes to make the right choice after a stimulus—is a powerful and revealing tool. In the context of the Zebrafish 5-Choice Maze, this metric offers a real-time readout of […]

Accuracy Rate in the Zebrafish 5-Choice Maze: A Behavioral Biomarker of Cognitive Precision

The Zebrafish 5-Choice Maze stands at the frontier of translational neuroscience. Modeled after the Five-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task (5-CSRTT), this maze is a precision-engineered platform for evaluating core cognitive functions such as sustained attention, learning, stimulus recognition, and inhibitory control. At the heart of this complex behavioral assay lies a deceptively simple yet profoundly […]

Trial-to-Trial Improvement in Zebrafish: A Dynamic Marker of Learning in the Visual Water Maze

Understanding how learning unfolds is just as important as proving that learning occurs. In the field of behavioral neuroscience, trial-to-trial improvement offers a window into the process of memory acquisition, attention, and task engagement. Especially in zebrafish studies using the Visual Water Maze, tracking performance across sequential trials provides invaluable insight into the moment-by-moment progression […]

Thigmotaxis in Zebrafish: Emotional Insight from Wall-Hugging

What Wall-Hugging Behavior Reveals About Anxiety and Cognitive Performance In behavioral neuroscience, the path a subject avoids is often as telling as the path it chooses. Within the context of zebrafish research using the Visual Water Maze, one such behavior—thigmotaxis, or wall-hugging—is especially revealing. Although sometimes dismissed as an artifact or a peripheral behavioral quirk, […]

Swim Speed in the Visual Water Maze

In behavioral neuroscience, not all data points are created equal—but some are more foundational than they first appear. Among the many metrics gathered in the Visual Water Maze for zebrafish, one of the most deceptively powerful is swim speed. This measure, often treated as peripheral, is in fact essential for the accurate interpretation of spatial […]

Social Interaction Motif Discovery in Group-Housed Rodents

Navigating Arena Design, Multi-Animal Tracking, and Behavioral Clustering Understanding the social lives of rodents is critical for advancing neuroscience, behavioral science, and preclinical research. In natural conditions, rodents live in groups and engage in complex, dynamic social interactions—ranging from subtle affiliative gestures to overt displays of aggression or dominance. Capturing these interactions systematically has long […]