This study (Q25) is one of a series of studies performed in the Szechtman lab at McMaster University and deposited in the FRDR public repository as a collection under the name "A Digital Library of Behavioural Performance in Standardized Conditions - Szechtman Lab Collection". This collection as a whole constitutes a big dataset containing raw data objects of video, track, and path plot records of rats exploring for 55 minutes a large testing environment in a standardized paradigm during chronic treatment with psychostimulant drugs; for details of this big dataset see, https://www.frdr-dfdr.ca/repo/collection/szechtmanlab. The historical context for study Q25 was Project_01 entitled: "Probing the neural circuit mediating sensitization and compulsive checking". This project had two separate studies, designated as Q25Bla1 and Q25Bla2. The title of study Q25Bla1 was "Probing the neural circuit mediating sensitization and compulsive checking: role of the basal lateral amygdala (BLA) on development" and the title of study Q25Bla2 was "Probing the neural circuit mediating sensitization and compulsive checking: role of the basal lateral amygdala (BLA) on expression". Title of experiment in Q25Bla1 was "Effect of an NMDA lesion of the BLA on the development of sensitization and compulsive checking" and title of experiment in Q25Bla2 was "Effect of an NMDA lesion of the BLA on the expression of sensitization and compulsive checking". For the development study (Q25Bla1), rats received a lesion targeted at the BLA and the effect of this lesion on the induction of compulsive checking in our standard paradigm was measured. For the expression study (Q25Bla2), rats received our standard treatment to induce compulsive checking and then received a lesion targeted at the BLA and the effect of this lesion on the expression of compulsive checking was measured. This dataset has the same Design and Procedure as dataset deposits for StudyID Q26 doi:10.20383/102.0438 and StudyID Q28 doi:10.20383/102.0436