Forced mild physical training-induced effects on cognitive and locomotory behavior in old mice

To assess the effect of mild forced physical training on cognitive and locomotory behavior in old (26 mo.) mice.

Randomized, controlled study.

Open-field in the behavioral laboratory.

Sixteen old sedentary male mice randomly assigned to one of two groups, exercise (E) or rest (R).

group E underwent treadmill running for one month at moderate intensity (belt speed=8 m/min, 45 min, five days a week), group R was only allowed spontaneous locomotor activity.

exploratory and locomotor behavior were evaluated in an enriched environment (Ethovision recording).

motor patterns were significantly reduced (chi2 test, p<0.05) in the E vs R group after one month of training; exploratory patterns were not different, both groups showing modest exploratory activity.

mild forced physical training initiated at old age may have detrimental effect on motor behavior in male mice without improving cognitive parameters.