The effect of haloperidol on the formation of behavioral patterns in adult rats

The application of a new approach to the analysis of the behavior of laboratory rats based on the color coding of the video frame sequence is presented. Behavioral features were identified in rats injected with haloperidol. In the experimental group, motor activity on the periphery of arena was significantly lower than in the control group. Moreover, there was a tendency to a significant decrease in physical activity in the second half of the test period. In the control and experimental groups, there was a pronounced difference in such patterns as moving forward, turning right, left and turning back. Among the static criteria, a significant difference in favor of the control was observed in the proportion of the following types of behavior: sniffing the air, walls or floor, examination of the arena holes, rearings with and without support. The application of the self-developed method, combining three time points in one frame: the present, the nearest and the more distant future, allowed us to establish a number of important rules. Thus, in the group that received haloperidol, the prediction of the future motor pattern based on the current position of the head and/or body of the animal turned out to be much stronger than in the control group. In addition, for animals injected with haloperidol, a pronounced stereotype of motor activity was characteristic. The combined frames were able to provide objectivity and high reliability in the most complex behavioral analysis, the dynamic patterns. In the future, this information will be required to obtain an optimal array and an acceptable variety of data for applying machine learning methods and automating the process of pattern recognition.