Assessment of locomotor activity in rodents using a newly developed automated locomotor activity system

SPS 2025 -- In neuropharmacology, safety pharmacology and neurotoxicity research, evaluating spontaneous locomotor activity is essential for determining the pharmacological properties and the side effects of newly developed drugs. Large-scale manual assessments of rodent locomotor activity is often part of these investigations, which can be time-consuming and laborious. The VivaMARS™ system is a newly developed automated system capable of measuring locomotor activity for up to 30 subjects per session. The purpose of this study was to validate the use of the VivaMARS™ system in capturing locomotor activity of rodents by evaluating the effects of D-amphetamine hemisulfate and chlorpromazine hydrochloride on locomotor activities of rats and mice. Amphetamine is a powerful stimulant known to increase rodent locomotor activity whereas chlorpromazine, a dopamine agonist, is known to decrease locomotor activity.