Marbles Buried
Marbles scored as buried at the end of the session
ConductVision · Behavioral Analysis
Marble Burying Test
Score marble burial automatically, one marble at a time, from overhead video.
RodentAnxiety / Repetitive BehaviorAuto Export
ConductVision / Marble Burying Test
Recording / Trial 3subject tracked
Marbles Buriedlive
Percent Covered per Marbleauto
Burial Over Time27%
Key Parameters
Metrics automatically extracted by ConductVision.
Percent Covered per Marble
Share of each marble hidden by bedding, compared with the start
Burial Over Time
Visible area of each marble from the start of the session to the end
Visible Marble Area
Area of each marble still showing, measured again each time the animal leaves it
Named Marble Positions
Every marble keeps its own position and name, so results stay marble by marble
Animal Tracking
Head, body center, and tail base tracked in every frame
+ 1 more parameters trackedShow allHide
Pose Export
Body-point coordinates in DeepLabCut-format CSV, with the recorded video
Example output
Burial, marble by marble
A 30-minute session with 20 marbles. Each marble's cover changes only when the animal leaves it, because that is when ConductVision measures it again. Move through the session and change the buried criterion to see how the count responds.
10 of 20 marbles buried at 30 min, counting a marble when it is at least two-thirds covered.
Cage, viewed from above
- M1100% covered, counted as buried
- M285% covered, counted as buried
- M310% covered
- M40% covered
- M572% covered, counted as buried
- M695% covered, counted as buried
- M760% covered
- M80% covered
- M930% covered
- M1088% covered, counted as buried
- M11100% covered, counted as buried
- M1255% covered
- M1378% covered, counted as buried
- M1415% covered
- M150% covered
- M1692% covered, counted as buried
- M1768% covered, counted as buried
- M1840% covered
- M1997% covered, counted as buried
- M2064% covered
- Visible marble
- Covered by bedding
- Counted as buried
At 30 min this session has 13 marbles at least half covered, 10 marbles at least two-thirds covered, and 2 marbles fully covered. Report the criterion with the count.
Show the values as a table
| Marble | Covered at 30 min | Buried since |
|---|---|---|
| M1 | 100% | 6.5 min |
| M2 | 85% | 11.2 min |
| M3 | 10% | Not buried |
| M4 | 0% | Not buried |
| M5 | 72% | 22 min |
| M6 | 95% | 8 min |
| M7 | 60% | Not buried |
| M8 | 0% | Not buried |
| M9 | 30% | Not buried |
| M10 | 88% | 9.5 min |
| M11 | 100% | 5 min |
| M12 | 55% | Not buried |
| M13 | 78% | 3.5 min |
| M14 | 15% | Not buried |
| M15 | 0% | Not buried |
| M16 | 92% | 16 min |
| M17 | 68% | 21.5 min |
| M18 | 40% | Not buried |
| M19 | 97% | 10.5 min |
| M20 | 64% | Not buried |
What is the Marble Burying Test?
The Marble Burying Test places a mouse in a cage of deep bedding with marbles spaced evenly on the surface. Mice dig on their own, and the number of marbles buried after a set time is the main readout. Burying falls with anxiolytics and SSRIs, and the test is used as a measure of repetitive, compulsive-like digging. Sedation also reduces burying, so results are read alongside activity measures.
You mark each marble on the video once, before scoring. ConductVision then tracks the animal and uses a segmentation model to outline the part of each marble that is still visible. A marble is measured again every time the animal leaves it, because that is when digging can change its cover. You get a burial record for each marble across the whole session, along with the end count.
Protocol Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Typical value |
|---|---|---|
| Marbles | Glass marbles spaced evenly on the bedding | 20, in a 4 × 5 grid |
| Bedding Depth | Lightly tamped bedding across the cage floor | 5 cm |
| Session Length | Time before marbles are scored | 30 min |
| Buried Criterion | Cover needed to count a marble as buried | At least 2/3 covered |
| Camera View | Position of the camera over the cage | Overhead, whole cage in view |
| Marble Positions | One named circle per marble, marked in the software | Set once per cage layout |
| Re-measurement | When each marble is measured again | Each time the animal leaves it |
Before you record
Camera straight overhead
Every marble must be visible from above. The tracking and marble models work on top-down video.
Start recording before the mouse goes in
Each marble is measured against the first frame, so every marble should be fully visible when recording starts.
Keep the camera and cage fixed
Marble positions are marked once. Moving the camera or cage during the session shifts every marble out of its circle.
Mark and name each marble
Draw one circle per marble in the software. Results are reported marble by marble under those names.
Avoid glare on the marbles
Even lighting keeps reflections from being read as visible marble.
Methods text
A starting paragraph for your methods section. Fill in the bracketed values from your study.
Marble burying was scored automatically with ConductVision (ConductScience, version [version]) from overhead video. Each of [20] marbles was marked once before analysis. The mouse was tracked (head, body center, and tail base), and a segmentation model measured the visible area of each marble on the first frame and again each time the mouse left that marble. A marble was counted as buried when at least [two-thirds] of its initial visible area was covered at the end of the [30]-min session.
Interpreting Results
↓
Fewer Marbles Buried
Less repetitive digging. Anxiolytics and SSRIs reduce burying at doses that do not sedate, so check activity before reading a drop as a drug effect.
↑
More Marbles Buried
More repetitive, compulsive-like digging, reported in several mouse models of repetitive behavior.
↑
Earlier Burial
Marbles covered early in the session show a fast start to digging. The end count alone cannot separate early from late digging.
→
Same Count, Different Marbles
Two groups can bury the same number of marbles in different places. Per-marble results show whether burying clusters in part of the cage.
Research Applications
Anxiety & Repetitive Behavior
- Anxiolytic and SSRI screening
- Repetitive, compulsive-like digging in genetic mouse models
- Strain and sex comparisons of baseline burying
Neurodevelopment
- Repetitive behavior in mouse models of autism-related genes
- Effects of early-life stress or immune activation on burying
Study Design
- Pair with Open Field Analysis to rule out activity effects
- Pair with Grooming Detection for a repetitive-behavior battery
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