Development of high precession analysis of animal behavior by sequential images of digital video

我们已经开发了一个C程序GLANA来研究动物的行为。在用数码摄像机拍摄电影后，使用Macintosh计算机以每秒30帧的速度将电影转换成连续图像。然后，通过龟头对这些图像进行分析，从图像中获得目标动物的重心坐标和图像不变矩等数值数据。利用先进的算法自动减去目标图像周围的背景图像，并对蚂蚁和老鼠的运动行为进行了分析。众所周知，蚂蚁通过其表面的碳氢化合物和通过天线上的化学感受器来区分筑巢对象。我们研究了蚂蚁在盘子上的运动行为，在盘子上涂抹了来自其他蚂蚁、筑巢或非筑巢的碳氢化合物。当一只蚂蚁从一盘来自同种动物的碳氢化合物变成来自异种动物的碳氢化合物时，轨迹的分维发生了变化。通过这些…在更多的研究中，我们注意到动物的运动与汽车等人造物体的运动完全不同，汽车以相同的速度移动，即使是一小部分时间也是如此。当我们检查动物的运动时，他们重复了大量的Go-Stop，即使在表面上看起来很平稳的运动中，相邻帧之间的位移也不是恒定的。然后，我们检查了走和停的持续时间。动物在“GO”状态下运动，相邻帧之间的位移是正的，即使它们不是恒定的。相反，在“停止”状态下的位移几乎为零。“GO”状态的直方图呈泊松分布，“STOP”状态的直方图呈幂函数分布(对数-对数图中的线性关系)。这些发现非常有趣。如果我们能够根据负责这些行为的系统的性质对这些分布进行适当的分析，就有可能获得更多关于行为控制系统的信息。当小鼠接受可卡因时，它的运动发生了变化：运动时间更长，停止时间更短。运动和停留时间的分布与接受生理盐水的动物不同。较少

We have developed a C program glana to investigate the animal behavior. After taking a movie by a digital video camera, the movie are converted into sequential images at a rate of 30 frames per second with use of a macintosh computer. Then these images are analyzed by the glana to get numerical data such as ordinates of the center of gravity and image invariant moments up to 4th moments about the target animal from the images. The background images around the target image are automatically subtracted by the glana with advanced algorithms.We have analyzed locomotion behavior of ants and mice. Ants are known to discriminate nestmates by hydrocarbons on their surface from non-nestmates by chemosensilla on antenna. We examined locomotion behavior of ants on a dish on which the hydrocarbons from other ants, nestmates or non-nestmates have been applied. The track fractal dimensions changed when an ant went from a dish of hydrocarbons from homo animals to that from allo animals.Through these … More studies, we noticed that the locomotion of animals was completely different from the movement of artificial things such as cars, which moved at the same velocity even a fraction of time. When we examined the locomotion of animals, they repeated large amount of go-stop even during apparent smooth movements and the displacements during adjacent frames are not constant. Then, we examined durations of go and stops. An animal moves during "go" state, the displacements between adjacent frames are positive even though they were not constant. On the contrary, the displacements during the "stop" state were almost zero. The histogram of the "go" state showed poisson-type distribution and that of the "stop" state power law distribution (linear relationships in log-log plot). These findings are very interesting. If we can analyze these distribution on a proper basis of the nature of a system responsible for these behavior, it may be possible to get more information on the controlling system of the behavior.When a mouse received cocaine, it changed in its locomotion : longer movement time and shorter stop time. The distribution of the movement and stop durations are changed from animals receiving saline. Less