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Updated: Aug 17, 2026
Assessing the Autonomic and Behavioral Effects of Passive Motion in Rats using Elevator Vertical Motion and Ferris-Wheel Rotation
Published on: February 7, 2020
[Behavioral changes of rats under rotation stimulation]
Yi-ling Cai1, Wen-ling Ma, Min Li
1Department of Military Hygiene, The Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
To assess the specification and efficiency of rotation sickness indices by monitoring changes of behaviors in rats under rotation stimulation.
Method:
SD rats were stimulated by Crampton model with different time courses. Pica or kaolin consumption (KC), conditioned taste aversion (CTA) or saccharine water ingestion (SWI), 2 h food ingestion (2hFI), and open-field test (OFT) scores were observed.
Result:
Apparent changes of the four indices were observed after rotation stimulation. SWI, OFT scores and 2hFI decreased exponentially with increase of duration of the motion stimulation. KC increased linearly with the increase of time within 12 h stimulation. After 18 h stimulation, KC decreased to a level even lower than that after 6 or 12 h stimulation. The adjusted correlation between changes of the indices and duration of stimulation within 12 h are: 0.94 for KC, 0.54 for SWI, 0.44 for 2hFI and 0.34 for OFT. The maximum efficiency of the four indices appeared at 6-hour stimulation: 70% for KC, 90% for SWI, 80% for 2hFI and 95% for OFT.
Conclusion:
It is found that pica and CTA were more specific than the other indices. They may serve as primary indices and can be combined with the secondary indices such as 2hFI or OFT. Six hours is the optimal duration of stimulation by Crampton model for rotation sickness studies.
