A toggle-floor box: the reliability of crossings in the evaluation of drug-induced locomotor changes in mice.

Various categories of the motor behavior were recorded using a video tape in mice subjected to a 10 min activity session in a toggle-floor box after an ip administration of saline solution, d-amphetamine (2 or 4 mg/kg), morphine (10 or 20 mg/kg) or scopolamine (0.5 or 1 mg/kg). While all the three drugs enhanced horizontal activity, in particular the crossing from one compartment to the other, rearing was inhibited, particularly by morphine. The results demonstrate that crossings, the behavioral category easily measurable automatically, represent a reliable index of the drug-induced hyperactivity.