Temporal dissociation of phencyclidine: Induced locomotor and social alterations in rats using an automated homecage monitoring system - implications for the 3Rs and preclinical drug discovery.
Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England) July 1, 2020 Emma J Mitchell, Ros R Brett, J Douglas Armstrong et al.
Automated homecage monitoring can detect changes in locomotion and social behavior caused by phencyclidine (PCP) in group-housed rats, offering a more naturalistic and less stressful alternative to conventional behavioral tests. Rats given PCP (2.5 mg/kg) traveled significantly greater distances from 15 to 60 minutes after injection and spent more time isolated from cage mates from 60 to 105 minutes after treatment. Unlike traditional assays that require moving animals to unfamiliar apparatus, in-cage monitoring captures the full time course of drug effects on multiple behaviors in the same animals, which may improve welfare and reproducibility in psychiatric drug research.