COMPUTER-PROGRAMS TO ANALYZE BRAIN ELECTRICAL-ACTIVITY DURING COPULATORY PELVIC THRUSTING IN MALE-RATS

Two microcomputer programs have been developed to simultaneously recor d and analyze the brain electrical activity: multiple unit activity (M UA) and electroencephalogram (EEG), and the accelerometric signals gen erated in relation to the pelvic thrusting that performs the male rat during the copulatory responses of mount, intromission, and ejaculatio n. CAPTUMUL is a program allowing the on line capture of the different signals and the further off line delimitation of the brain signals oc curring in exact temporal relation with the accelerometric record of m otor responses. The ANAMUA program allows the off line analysis of the neuronal firing rate in MUA records at different discrimination level s according to the amplitude of the neuronal spikes, and compare these data in various behavioral situations. The use of these programs prov ides a way of correlating in time the changes of brain electrical acti vity occurring in animals in free-movement with the brief motor events of copulation as well as with other behaviors (i.e., genital grooming , sniffing, running, walking). Advantages of this software include the recording of sequential events, a better and rapid handling of data a nd a reliable method to analyze the MUA with different discrimination levels according to the amplitude of the neuronal spikes. (C) 1997 Els evier Science Inc.