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Tracking Individual Running Metrics in Mice Using a Voluntary Wheel Running Protocol that Minimizes Social Isolation
Published on: April 18, 2025
Selection for increased voluntary wheel-running affects behavior and brain monoamines in mice
R Parrish Waters1, R B Pringle, G L Forster
1Berlin Mouse Clinic, Charité University, Berlin, Germany. robert-parrish.waters@charite.de
Brain Research
|January 29, 2013
Summary
Mice selectively bred for high wheel-running activity show increased activity levels and altered brain monoamines. These mice may serve as valuable models for human conditions linked to physical activity, like obesity and depression.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Neuroscience
- Animal Models
- Exercise Physiology
Background:
- Selective breeding for high voluntary wheel-running in mice induces physiological and behavioral changes.
- Understanding these changes can inform models for human diseases related to physical inactivity (e.g., obesity, diabetes, depression).
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize ethological and neurochemical differences between mice selectively bred for high wheel-running and a control line.
- To investigate the impact of selective breeding on behavior and central monoamine concentrations.
Main Methods:
- Monitoring wheel-running activity over 8 weeks.
- Observing home-cage behavior during the final 5 weeks.
- Measuring central monoamine concentrations in limbic, striatal, and midbrain regions.
Main Results:
- Selected mice exhibited significantly higher wheel-running speed and duration compared to controls.
- Selected mice displayed more active behaviors and less inactivity and grooming, irrespective of wheel access.
- Statistically significant differences in monoamine concentrations and metabolites were found in brain regions influencing exercise and motivation.
Conclusions:
- Selective breeding for high wheel-running alters behavior and neurochemistry.
- These selected mice represent a promising model for studying human conditions influenced by physical activity levels and neurochemical pathways.
- Underlying neurochemical differences likely drive the observed behavioral variations.
