A microcomputer technique for the detailed analysis of animal behaviour.

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.