Neurobehavioral screening in rats: validation study

The usefulness of a neurobehavioral check-list for the detection and characterization of neurotoxic effects of chemical compounds was evaluated in rats. The animals were given single doses of the test compounds, and higher or lower doses of the substances were administered in subsequent weeks, depending on the outcome of the experiments. The testing procedure proved to be useful for detecting the neurobehavioral hazards of psychotherapeutics and other drugs with known neurobehavioral side-effects. However, the investigational technique was less satisfactory for evaluating alcohols and various neurotoxic agents. With these compounds, even repeated dosing did not improve the predictability of the testing scheme. Swimming performance was also investigated and was found to be impaired only in rats treated with neuroleptic drugs. Based on this validation study, the advantages and pitfalls of the neurobehavioral check-list approach are discussed.