The functional observational battery in adult and developing rats

Neurobehavioral screening methods, suck as the functional observational bat tery (FOB), are now widely used to identify potential neurotoxicity of new and existing chemicals. These methods have been validated and a large datab ase now exists for the effects of a wide range of chemicals. Since most of the observations recorded are subjective, the quality of the test data depe nds largely on the observer's ability to detect and describe changes in the animal's behavior and neurologic function. Efforts are underway to aid in the training of observers and to achieve consistency across laboratories in the use of these methods. With the increasing concern over potential neuro toxicological consequences of chemical exposure in the developing organism, there is growing interest in testing laboratory animals at very young ages . We present here an initial report of the development of an FOE suitable f or young rats, using some modifications of the individual adult FOE test me asures to make them age-appropriate. We have evaluated pre- and postweanlin g rats to determine the range of behaviors (as evaluated with the FOB) disp layed at each age, develop appropriate scoring criteria, anti collect contr ol data to document the ontogeny of each of the endpoints in the FOE. This revised FOE protocol may be useful for assessing behavioral or neurological changes due to acute chemical exposure in young rats, or following gestati onal/lactational exposures typical of developmental neurotoxicity studies. (C) 2000 Inter Press, Inc.