In the present work the effects of movement restriction imposed during the early postweaning period on both Purkinje cell dendritic development and exploratory behavior were analyzed. Male and female Sprague-Dawley albino rats were reared either in isolated-restricted or social-standard environments from postnatal day 18 to 30. On the 31st postnatal day, all rats were behaviorally evaluated by the open-field test and then sacrificed under deep ether anesthesia. Vermian cerebellar sections were later stained with the Golgi-Cox-Sholl method and the Purkinje cell dendritic morphology was quantified under light microscopy. The results indicate that early somatomotor restriction severely impairs both exploratory behavior and Purkinje cell dendritic growth.