Figure 1. Stimulant effects on rat locomotor patterns in the Behavioral Pattern Monitor.

The effects of saline (a), amphetamine (b), phencyclidine (c) and scopolamine (d) on rat behavioral organization. a) The rat treated with saline explored little of the environment, making two or three excursions around the chamber, exhibiting short meandering movement in one or two areas then moving on. b) The amphetamine-treated rat however made numerous circuits of the chamber, crossing from one area to another in relatively straight lines, crossing the center as often as being close to the chamber walls, leading to a great variability of movement. The rat also exhibited more than one area of focused activity [‘home corner’ (Geyer 1982) or ‘home base’ (Eilam and Golani 1989)] c) The phencyclidine-treated rat exhibited sweeping movement patterns, from one corner to another, often circling from a home base that covered the right side of the chamber, with repetitive movements. d) The scopolamine-treated rat displayed increased long and straight movements particularly close to the chamber walls, deviating very little from this path. The level of activity was as great as amphetamine but with scopolamine the rat did not spend time focusing on any areas in particular, nor did it cross the center very often, displaying very repetitive movements. Data are provided for measures of locomotor activity (transitions), locomotor pattern (spatial d) and exploration (holepokes).