Writing the methods section

Swim paths were recorded with a tracking camera and analysed with HVS Image video tracking software ([version and build]). The pool ([pool diameter] cm) was calibrated by clicking the North, South, West and East edges of the water surface, and every platform position used was calibrated, with the pool centre as position 0; the platform diameter was [target diameter] cm. [Number of trials] trials per day were given for [number of days] days, from [start points], with a maximum duration of [Max Seconds] s; trials ended [on arrival at the platform / after the subject had stayed on the platform for [n] s / manually]. In probe trials ([probe duration] s) the learned platform position was entered so that measures were calculated relative to the learned location. Latency, path length, average and active swim speed, % time in the target quadrant, platform crossings, close encounters, thigmotaxis and Gallagher proximity were calculated in HVS Image, with a thigmotaxis band of [band value] of the pool radius, a close encounter counter of [counter value] and an inactivity threshold of [threshold] m/s. [Distal cue arrangement.] [Water depth, temperature and opacity, from your protocol.] The procedure was based on Morris (1984), and proximity measures on Gallagher et al. (1993).

Behaviour was recorded with a tracking camera and analysed with the Barnes maze in HVS Image video tracking software ([version and build]). The maze surface ([maze diameter] cm, [number of holes] holes) was calibrated by clicking the top, bottom, left and right extremes of the surface, and each hole position was calibrated. Trials lasted up to [Max Seconds] s and ended when the subject entered the escape hole [manually / automatically with ‘Auto-end on escape hole’]. Hole approaches were counted automatically, and pokes (errors) per hole, latency and path length to the target hole and primary path length were calculated, with a thigmotaxis band of [band value] (set so that the holes fell within it) and a counter size of [counter value]. In probe trials ([probe duration] s) the learned target hole was entered as the target. [Escape box, aversive stimulus and lighting, from your protocol.]

Behaviour was recorded with a tracking camera and analysed with HVS Image video tracking software ([version and build]). The tracking area ([height] × [width] cm; [number of arenas] arenas) was calibrated by clicking its top-left and bottom-right corners. For analysis the tracking area was divided into a [grid size] grid, and % time, % path, entries and latency were calculated for each zone, together with total path length, average speed and [time bins, if used: [number of bins]]. Freezing was defined as moving no more than [distance] cm in [time] s. [For object tests: objects were placed in zone centres and time near each object was scored from body-centre tracking; sniffing and contacts were scored manually by [method].] Trials lasted [Max secs] s. [Arena material, lighting and cleaning between subjects, from your protocol.]

Behaviour was recorded with a tracking camera and analysed with HVS Image video tracking software ([version and build]). The [maze type] ([arm dimensions]) was calibrated by clicking the maze points in the order indicated by the software. An arm entry was defined using a Detection Area of [percentage]% of each arm (at 100% any entry counts). Total arm entries, arms visited, entries per arm, latencies, % path and % time per arm and the arm-entry sequence were calculated[; for the elevated plus maze, open versus closed arm % time and entries were calculated (Walf and Frye, 2007)]. Trials lasted [Max secs] s. [Maze height, wall material, lighting and cleaning, from your protocol.]

Behaviour was recorded with a tracking camera and analysed with HVS Image video tracking software ([version and build]). [Number of containers] containers were tracked; the tracking area was calibrated as a band around the water line ([band height] × [band width] cm), sized so that the subject's highest point lay in the top third when climbing, the middle third when swimming or floating and the bottom third when diving. HVS Image classified climbing, swimming/floating and diving from the highest part of the subject within the tracking area and separated swimming from floating by speed. % time climbing, swimming, floating and diving, total path length and average speed were calculated. Trials lasted [Max secs] s. [Container dimensions, water depth and temperature, and pre-test session, from your protocol.]

The task was run in HVS 6D VR ([version]) with a Quest 3 headset connected by Link cable; participants navigated using [the Omnidrive treadmill / treadplate / arrow keys / head tilts]. Each experiment was defined in a vrScript file (HVS Image vrScript technical reference, doi:10.5281/zenodo.22303968), with a tracking diameter of [TRACKING_DIAMETER], a target radius of [TARGET_RADIUS] m, a maximum trial duration of [MAXIMUM_TIME] and [cue arrangement and scene]. Start positions and orientation were defined per trial in the vrScript. HVS 6D VR recorded time-stamped positions, which HVS Image ([version and build]) smoothed to one position per 100 ms (10 Hz) for all measures. Trials were analysed in HVS Image as for the water maze, with an inactivity threshold of [threshold] m/s (HVS Image Inactivity technical note, doi:10.5281/zenodo.21797205). [Participant recruitment, consent, safety procedures and practice, from your protocol.]

Inactivity was defined as speed below [threshold] m/s. Positions [sampled at up to 60 Hz (video tracking) / recorded at a variable rate (HVS 6D VR)] were smoothed to one position per 100 ms; speed per interval was the Euclidean distance between successive smoothed positions divided by the elapsed time, intervals below the threshold were classed as inactive, and % inactivity was the summed inactive duration divided by the total trial duration (HVS Image Inactivity technical note, doi:10.5281/zenodo.21797205).

Initial approaches were classified with the HVS Image Direct Path Measures (HVS Image Direct Path Measures technical note, doi:10.5281/zenodo.21870806; HVS Image [version and build]), using a close encounter counter of [Counter diam x value], a poolside zone (ThigRatio) of [value] and a heading distance of [value, as exported in Heading range]. A path was classed as direct when actual path / shortest path was no more than 1.2; classifications considered only the first arrival and were evaluated only when the trial started outside the destination.

Search proximity was quantified as Gallagher global proximity (average distance from the target over the [trial / time slice]) and cumulative proximity (sum of one-second average distances) (Gallagher et al., 1993), calculated in HVS Image ([version and build]). Corrected values excluded the time needed to swim the straight-line start-to-target distance at the subject's mean active swimming speed; raw and corrected values are reported together.