Assessment of Spontaneous Locomotor and Running Activity in Mice

Abstract

The locomotor activity of laboratory mice is a global behavioral trait which can be valuable for the primary phenotyping of genetically engineered mouse models as well as mouse models of pathologies affecting the central and peripheral nervous systems, the musculoskeletal system, and the control of energy homeostasis. Basal levels of mouse locomotion can be recorded using infrared monitoring of movements, and further information can be gathered by giving the animal access to a running wheel, which will greatly enhance its spontaneous physical activity. Described here are two detailed protocols to evaluate basal locomotor activity and spontaneous wheel running. Curr. Protoc. Mouse Biol. 1:185-198. © 2011 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Life in a dark biosphere: a review of circadian physiology in “arrhythmic” environments

“…These tools can take the form of motion recording using video cameras (Bailoo et al 2010), monitored exercise equipment (e.g. running wheels for mice—Thomas et al 2011), accelerometers mounted on the body (Ropert-Coudert and Wilson 2005), photo-cell beam interference (Barrett et al 2001; Thomas et al 2011), and acoustic monitoring (Bovet and Oertli 1974). Automated computer analysis software is commonly used to track and quantify activity, which, in addition to being more efficient, can also be more sensitive and objective than human analysis of behavioural patterns (Desland et al 2014).…”

Exercise Performance Tests in Mice

“…For example, diet-induced obese mice display a significant reduction of both the distance traveled and VO 2 max during maximal oxygen consumption protocols, while mice trained by spontaneous wheel running (see Thomas et al, 2011 for details) significantly improve their maximal running distance and their VO 2 max (Fig. 8).…”

Inhibitory hippocampo-septal projection controls locomotion and exploratory behavior

“…The methods include activity chamber (Pierce & Kalivas, 2007;Thomas, Marcaletti, & Feige, 2011), open field (Seibenhener & Wooten, 2015), treadmill (Leblond, L'Esperance, Orsal, & Rossignol, 2003), and running wheel (Thomas et al, 2011). The duration of recordings of animal activity ranged from five minutes to several hours (Pierce & Kalivas, 2007;Thomas et al, 2011). This variety of experimental conditions led to inconsistent conclusions (Douglas & Isaacson, 1964;McNaughton et al, 1983;Swerdlow et al, 2001;Degoulet et al, 2008;Kropff, Carmichael, Moser, & Moser, 2015).…”

“…In the previous studies, multiple methods or protocols were used to examine the role of the hippocampus animal locomotion. The methods include activity chamber (Pierce & Kalivas, 2007;Thomas, Marcaletti, & Feige, 2011), open field (Seibenhener & Wooten, 2015), treadmill (Leblond, L'Esperance, Orsal, & Rossignol, 2003), and running wheel (Thomas et al, 2011). The duration of recordings of animal activity ranged from five minutes to several hours (Pierce & Kalivas, 2007;Thomas et al, 2011).…”