Abstract
An apparatus for measuring locomotor activity (LA) of rats is described and demonstrated. Conventional cages were modified to tilt in response to animal LA. Cage movements were detected by a piezoelectric crystal transducer, and the amplified signals outputted to electronic digital counters. The activity cages were utilized to investigate the effects of several dietary levels of vitamin B-6 (0, 0.5, 1.0, and 6.0 mg pyridoxine-HCl/kg diet) and two different temperature conditions (23° and 27°) on the LA of post-weanling rats. Throughout most of the 31/2 week study period, animals in the 0 and 0.5 mg groups were less active (p<0.001) than the 1.0 and 6.0 mg groups. Activity levels were also reduced (p<0.0001) at the higher temperature. These data provide an example of how nutritional and environmental conditions may affect one form of animal behavior. The relevance of behavioral measurements to nutritional studies is discussed.
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