Biphasic changes in mouse motor activity during exposure to toluene

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Toxicology
• Animal Behavior

Background:

• Acute solvent exposure in the workplace can cause neurological effects.
• Limited research exists on unlearned animal behavior during acute solvent exposure.
• Understanding toluene's impact on behavior is crucial for occupational safety.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of acute toluene exposure on mouse locomotor activity.
• To establish the lowest effective concentrations of toluene altering behavior.
• To compare toluene's effects on unlearned behavior with learned behavior studies.

Main Methods:

• A novel apparatus was designed to measure individual mouse movement in six compartments.
• Mice were exposed to varying toluene concentrations (300-3000 ppm) or air in a controlled Latin-square design.
• Each mouse served as its own control to detect subtle behavioral changes.

Main Results:

• Toluene exposure significantly affected locomotor activity in a dose-dependent manner.
• Activity increases were observed at 560 ppm, while decreases occurred at 3000 ppm.
• The observed effects were reversible and detected at low concentrations.

Conclusions:

• This study identified the lowest reported concentrations of toluene that alter unlearned mouse behavior.
• The findings suggest toluene can impact behavior at levels comparable to those affecting human reaction time.
• The developed method provides a sensitive model for assessing acute solvent neurotoxicity.