Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) receptors as well as dopamine receptors are important in connection with schizophrenia. In this study we evaluated the effects of the 5-HT1A receptor agonist (8-hydroxy-2-(di-n-propylamino)tetralin, 8-OH-DPAT) and 5-HT1B receptor agonist (1-(3-trifluoromethylphenyl)piperazine, TFMPP) on the single and paired rats' movement distance in an open-field. Generally animals are gregarious in their natural setting, so the presence of another companion might alter the effects of the drugs. Therefore we devised a video analysis system to pick up the two rats' movements individually through two CCD video cameras and objectively recorded two rats' movement for 30 minutes. Experimental rats were injected with 8-OH-DPAT (0.05, 0.25, 1.25, 6.25 mg/kg, s.c.) or TFMPP (0.12, 0.5, 2.0, 8.0 mg/kg, i.p.) and the control rats were injected with saline. In the single cases experiments, the rats were put alone into the open field after the injection. In the paired cases experiments, they were put into the open field with a companion rat after the injection. In the 8-OH-DPAT experiment, the movement distance of single cases showed dose dependent increase tendency and that of the 1.25 mg/kg group and the 6.25 mg/kg group showed significant increase, but that of paired cases did not show that tendency, on the contrary, the movement distance of 0.05 mg/kg group showed significant decrease. In the TFMPP experiment, the movement distance of 2.0 mg/kg groups showed significant increases in the single and the paired cases. These findings suggest that both 5-HT1A receptors and 5-HT1B receptors affect the rats' movement distance.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)