Ultrasonic measurement and automatic analysis of general activity in the rat.

Abstract

Problems in measurement of general activity have prevented its use as an index of drive. An ultrasonic device for measuring general activity appears to remedy many of the faults of other methods. A system utilizing the ultrasonic technique in conjunction with automatic data collection is presented, together with results obtained during conditions of 12-hr, light-dark cycles or continuous illumination, with ad-lib access to food and water. Automatic data collection permits fine temporal resolution of activity measurements, use of autocorrelational methods to detect periodicities in the data, and observation of general activity over extended periods of time.