Rat rotation monitoring for pharmacology research

Much current neuropharmacological research describes drug site of action and effect in terms of rotational behavior in rats. Such studies at the National Institutes of Health led to the development of required instrumentation capabilities. The method developed for quantifying rotational behavior to the exclusion of other locomotor activity is presented. Such full turns counts can be output as mechanical counter inputs, computer inputs, user-selected time interval subtotals, summary totals, or a voltage proportional to cumulative count which provides turning-rate data when recorded on strip-chart. The latter two options are described herein.