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Patterns of brain activity associated with variation in voluntary wheel-running behavior
Justin S Rhodes1, Theodore Garland, Stephen C Gammie
1Department of Zoology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 53706, USA.
Behavioral Neuroscience
|December 17, 2003
Summary
High wheel running mice (S) show different brain activity patterns compared to control mice (C). Brain regions involved in motivation and locomotor control differ between S and C mice, especially when running is prevented.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Behavioral Genetics
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- Rodent wheel running is a common behavior, but the neural underpinnings of individual and species variation are not well understood.
- Selective breeding has produced mouse lines with high (S) and control (C) wheel running tendencies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare brain activity, using Fos immunoreactivity, between high-running (S) and control (C) mice.
- To identify brain regions associated with the motivation for wheel running and the control of locomotor behavior intensity.
Main Methods:
- Mice (S and C lines) ran on wheels for 6 days.
- On Day 7, half of the mice in each group were prevented from running.
- Brain activity was assessed using Fos immunoreactivity.
Main Results:
- A positive correlation between running distance and Fos in the dentate gyrus was observed in C runners but absent in S runners.
- In mice prevented from running, S mice exhibited higher Fos expression than C mice in the lateral hypothalamus, medial frontal cortex, and striatum.
Conclusions:
- Specific brain regions are implicated in the motivation to engage in wheel running.
- Other brain regions appear to control the intensity of the locomotor behavior itself.
- Differences in brain activity highlight distinct neural mechanisms underlying high versus typical wheel running behavior in mice.