Motor function
Beam walking and gait analysis are scored by the experimenter, live or from video, and then entered by hand or imported. RodentFlow does the averaging, the derived measures and the group statistics.
Beam walking
Balance and coordination while crossing a narrow beam.
Fields. Beam (the label of the beam, e.g. 12 mm or 6 mm round) and an optional Beam width in mm. Then one row per trial with:
| Per trial | Notes |
|---|---|
| Traversal time | s, required |
| Foot slips | count, default 0 |
| Fell | yes / no |
Use Day for training days and Beam to keep beams apart. The Groups tab can filter by beam.
| Metric | Unit | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Traversal time | s | Mean time to cross over the trials entered |
| Foot slips per trial | — | Mean slips per trial |
| Total foot slips | count | Sum over trials |
| Falls | % | Trials with a fall / trials × 100 |
| Trials | count | Number of trials entered |
Series: traversal time per trial.
Import. One row per trial with subject, group, phase, day, trial, time_s, slips, fell, where phase is the beam. The sample file has this layout. In the Groups tab, Across days then gives a learning curve per beam with a mixed ANOVA.
Gait analysis
Footprint (ink or paint) gait analysis.
Fields. Optional Run duration (s) and Run distance (cm) for cadence and speed. Then one row per stride:
| Per stride | Notes |
|---|---|
| Side | —, left or right |
| Hind stride length | cm |
| Fore stride length | cm |
| Hind base width | cm |
| Fore base width | cm |
| Paw overlap | cm, distance between fore and hind prints of the same side |
Measure consecutive strides in the middle of the run and skip the first and last steps, where the animal accelerates and stops.
| Metric | Unit | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| Hind stride length, fore stride length | cm | Mean over strides |
| Hind base width, fore base width | cm | Mean over strides |
| Paw overlap | cm | Mean fore–hind print distance |
| Hind stride CV | % | SD / mean of hind stride length × 100 (variability; needs ≥ 2 strides) |
| Hind stride asymmetry | % | |L − R| / mean(L, R) × 100 (needs strides from both sides) |
| Cadence | strides/s | Strides entered / run duration |
| Walking speed | cm/s | Run distance / run duration |