Abstract
Force plate actometry (FPA) enables quantitative assessment of rodent motor and behavioural activity. Through tracking centre of mass at high temporal and spatial resolution, FPA can directly quantify motor performance and various behaviours in the context of operator-independent, naturalistic movement. Previously designed systems have been expensive and non-customisable, and they are no longer commercially available. We designed OpenStride, an open-source FPA system consisting of both hardware and software. Our system was designed to be able to be constructed with standard tools worldwide at a cost of ~$550 USD, with modifiable hardware files, modular software, and support for both Mac and Windows operating systems. Required tools include 3D printing and acrylic laser cutting. OpenStride reliably tracks position within a 30 ⋅ 30 cm2 environment. Based on these positional data, OpenStride currently quantifies tremor, ataxia, distance, velocity, low-mobility bouts, and centre-vs.-margin time, with potential to expand to additional analyses. OpenStride is intended to provide a valuable tool for high-throughput, inexpensive study of motor and behavioural function and dysfunction. Software and hardware files have been freely disseminated online via GitHub (OpenStrideNeuro) to enable others to construct and utilise the OpenStride system.
Data availability
All hardware and software files associated with the construction and operation of OpenStride have been published to GitHub: github.com/OpenStrideNeuro/OpenStride/ All additional data are available on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
The authors thank Daria Nesterovich Anderson for her generous assistance with data visualisation. Further, the authors thank Stuart Kirkwood for additional advice on manufacturing and data input approaches.
Funding
University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health Bright Ideas Grant 2023. RTW Foundation Research Grant 2023. Rare Village Foundation Research Grant 2025.
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YY: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, VisualizationBC: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Resources, Writing - Review and EditingMH: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Writing - Review and EditingKD: Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing, Project administrationSH: Investigation, Writing - Review & Editing, Project administrationHB: Software, Investigation, Writing - Review and EditingKS: Investigation, Writing - Review & EditingLH: Investigation, Writing - Review and EditingOK: Writing - Review & Editing, SupervisionCA: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Forma analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.
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Yang, Y., Cooper, B., Houghton, M. et al. OpenStride: an inexpensive, open-source force plate actometry system for quantification of rodent motor activity and behaviour. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44953-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-44953-z
