Replication Data for \"Using TrackMate to Analyze Drosophila Larval and Adult Locomotion\"

Drosophila adult and larvae exhibit sophisticated behaviors that are widely used in development, synaptic transmission, sensory physiology, and learning and memory research. Many of these behaviors depend on locomotion, the ability of an animal to move. However, the statistical analysis of locomotion is not trivial. Here we use an open-source Fiji plugin TrackMate to track the locomotion of Drosophila adults and larvae. We build optimal experimental setups to rapidly process recordings by Fiji and analyze by TrackMate. We also provide tips for analyzing non-optimal recordings. TrackMate extracts the X and Y positions of an animal on each frame of an image sequence or a video. This information allows for generating moving trajectories, calculating moving distances, and determining preference indices in two-choice assays. Notably, this free-cost analysis method does not require programming skills.

果蝇（Drosophila）成虫与幼虫展现出复杂精妙的行为范式，被广泛应用于发育生物学、突触传递、感觉生理学以及学习记忆相关研究中。此类行为大多依赖于运动能力，即动物的位移能力。然而，对运动行为开展统计分析并非易事。本研究采用开源Fiji插件TrackMate对果蝇成虫与幼虫的运动行为进行追踪。我们搭建了最优实验配置，可通过Fiji快速处理录制的影像素材，并借助TrackMate完成后续分析工作。此外，我们还提供了针对非最优录制素材的分析技巧。TrackMate可提取图像序列或视频每一帧中目标动物的X、Y坐标位置。基于该坐标信息，可生成运动轨迹、计算移动距离，并在双选择实验中确定偏好指数。值得注意的是，该免费分析方法无需掌握编程技能。