Figure 2.

Rat open field exploration: 2-D representation. A 2-D representation of rat open field movements as plotted from the pilot experiments. One hour (3600 seconds) in the box was used here for demonstration purposes but not in continuing studies. The x and y axis (1–4) corresponded to the beams crossing the chamber. Using novel computer management of this data (see methods), the rat's place in space and time was determined. In A), an uninjured animal explores much of the area over the course of an hour. B) A sham injured animal also explores most of the area. In C), an injured untreated animal only explores one corner of the box. And in D) an injured PEG-treated animal covers much more area compared to C.