title: A microcomputer technique for the detailed analysis of animal behaviour.
abstract: Movements and postures of animals may be described quantitatively and as such represent measures that may be used to, for example, detect drug-induced alterations in behaviour. However, because of the time-investment needed to generate such data, quantitative assessment of animal behaviour remains a major problem in psychopharmacology. The present communication outlines a microcomputer based method for obtaining frequency, real-time duration and latency measures from a large number of behavioural elements. When used in conjunction with a videotape recorder, this system enables one experimenter to obtain data from situations involving several interacting animals, thus representing an aid to increased data-logging efficiency using only equipment that is commonly found in many psychopharmacology laboratories.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D003201:Computers; D051379:Mice; D008838:Microcomputers; D009043:Motor Activity; D009482:Neurophysiology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D051381:Rats; D011930:Reaction Time; D012984:Software; D014743:Videotape Recording