Chronic multi-channel single unit recordings were done simultaneously in both striatum (STR) and globus pallidus (GP) of rats while rats were repeatedly performing elevated body swing test (EBST), which was consisted of 2 major parts: moving above ground (F) and moving on the ground (G). F had 2 parts: flying with movement (FM), flying without movement (FS). G had 4 behavioral segments: safety seeking (GS), rest-ing (GR), moving head (GH) and exploring movement (GM). Frequency, duration and direction of head movement were also determined during the EBST. The results showed that the GS was the shortest and the GR was the longest. The averaged percentage distributions of sub-periods of the EBST were very stable for 2 weeks. Frequency and duration of leftward head shift (HS) were similar to those of rightward HS. Neural activities of both FM and GR sub-periods were much stronger than those of other sub-periods. During FM, GR and GM sub-periods GP neurons showed significantly stronger activities than STR neurons did. These neuronal firings were stable for 2 weeks. Neural activities of each nucleus during HS were much stronger in FM sub- period than in ground sub-periods. GP neuron's firing rates were also much stronger than STR neuron's activities during HS. Activities during rightward HS were not significantly different from those during leftward HS. The stability of the sub-behavioral periods of the EBST and the neural activities of STR and GP during each sub- behavioral period further suggests that the EBST may be an excellent behavioral tool for the study of various abnormalities involving basal ganglia.

Keywords: Basal ganglia, striatum, globus pallidus, elevated body swing test