Analysis of the behavioral activity of Wistar rats and SHR maintained under restricted feeding conditions.

<p><b>A</b>) <b>Representative </b><b>double-plotted </b><b>actograms</b> of the locomotor activity of a Wistar rat (left) and SHR (right) maintained under LD12: 12. The rats were initially fed <i>ad </i><i>libitum</i> (ad lib), and thereafter, food was provided only during a 6-h period between Zeitgeber time (ZT) 3 and ZT9 for 10 days; the 6-h period of restricted feeding (RF) is depicted by the dashed rectangles. <b>B</b>) <b>Cumulative </b><b>daily </b><b>locomotor </b><b>activity </b><b>profiles</b> of Wistar rats (left, n = 7) and SHR (right, n = 10) detected on the 3rd day (upper panel) and on the 10th day (lower panel) of RF. The dotted rectangles represent the time of food availability; the arrows point at food anticipatory activity. <b>C</b>) <b>Comparison </b><b>of </b><b>food </b><b>anticipatory </b><b>activity</b> measured during the 3-h interval prior to food presentation, i.e., between ZT0 and ZT3, in individual Wistar rats (open circles) and SHR (full circles), expressed as the percent of total activity of each animal. <b>D</b>) <b>Comparison </b><b>of </b><b>activity </b><b>level</b> (expressed as means ± S.E.M. in percent of total activity) in Wistar rats (open column; n = 7) and SHR (full column; n = 10) during the intervals between ZT9 and ZT12, i.e., between the end of the food presentation and the beginning of the dark period, and between ZT18 and ZT24, i.e., during the second half of the dark period.