The current layout has a photobeam at the start of each group of 3 tracks and another at each feeder. We may be able to make crude estimates of trial durations and dwell times based on these photobeam breaks, but it will not be very precise because the subject may break the photobeam multiple times before moving to the next. At times, the rat may also move along the track in a way that does not break the photobeam (eg. gallop), which poses further complications. If the control script is written such that the first photobeam must be the last event when the rat gets to a feeder to receive reward then we need a way to track that the photobeam was indeed broken.
The current layout has a photobeam at the start of each group of 3 tracks and another at each feeder. We may be able to make crude estimates of trial durations and dwell times based on these photobeam breaks, but it will not be very precise because the subject may break the photobeam multiple times before moving to the next. At times, the rat may also move along the track in a way that does not break the photobeam (eg. gallop), which poses further complications. If the control script is written such that the first photobeam must be the last event when the rat gets to a feeder to receive reward then we need a way to track that the photobeam was indeed broken.