A system for automatic recording and analysis of motor activity in rats

We describe the design and evaluation of an electronic system for the automatic recording of motor activity in rats. The device continually locates the position of a rat inside a transparent acrylic cube (50 cm/side) with infrared sensors arranged on its walls so as to correspond to the x-, y-, and z-axes. The system is governed by two microcontrollers. The raw data are saved in a text file within a secure digital memory card, and offline analyses are performed with a library of programs that automatically compute several parameters based on the sequence of coordinates and the time of occurrence of each movement. Four analyses can be made at specified time intervals: traveled distance (cm), movement speed (cm/s), time spent in vertical exploration (s), and thigmotaxis (%). In addition, three analyses are made for the total duration of the experiment: time spent at each x–y coordinate pair (min), time spent on vertical exploration at each x–y coordinate pair (s), and frequency distribution of vertical exploration episodes of distinct durations. User profiles of frequently analyzed parameters may be created and saved for future experimental analyses, thus obtaining a full set of analyses for a group of rats in a short time. The performance of the developed system was assessed by recording the spontaneous motor activity of six rats, while their behaviors were simultaneously videotaped for manual analysis by two trained observers. A high and significant correlation was found between the values measured by the electronic system and by the observers.