Running wheel

Speed-increasing drives should have at least 23 teeth in the smaller, faster running wheel. If possible, the taut span of the chain should be on top. 

FIG. 1. Firing-rate patterns in SCN slices from wild-type mice kept in constant darkness (DD) or in 12 h light-12 h dark (LD) cycles. The running wheel activity patterns of the mice over the last 7 days prior to slice preparation is indicated above the records. (A) Circadian rhythm in multiunit activity (MUA) in the SCN of a wild-type mouse, previously kept under DD conditions and isolated at CT2 (B) Circadian rhythm in MUA activity in the SCN of a wild-type mouse, previously kept under LD conditions, and isolated at CT2. Black/ grey and black/white bars above each plot indicate the subjective night/day and night/day respectively. CT, circadian time. (Reprinted from Albus et al 2002, with permission from Elsevier Science.)... 

During TGFa infusions, episodes of waking, non-REM sleep, and REM sleep were normal in appearance, amount and duration (unpublished data). Thus the blockade of running-wheel behaviour by TGFa was not due to hypersomnolence... 

I don t think so. There is a fair amount of individual variability in period length. These mice had been in DD for a long time. Under those conditions there is a lot of variability. The total amount of running wheel activity, and the period and phasing of the animals is not detectably different as a function of genotype. In LD they look very different because 10% of the activity of mutant animals is during the light part of the cycle as compared with about 1% in the wild-types. 

Kitamura T, Mishina M, Sugiyama H (2003) Enhancement of neurogenesis by running wheel exercises is suppressed in mice lacking NMDA receptor epsilon 1 subunit. Neurosci Res 47 55-63. 

We tested exercise capacity using a running wheel and a motorized treadmill. The running wheel tests voluntary exercise because mice can choose to run. Indeed, WT C57B1/6 mice ran about 6 km each night over 5 h. In the AB KO, exercise distance, time, and speed were all markedly lower than for WT. To test if behavioral factors played a role in wheel running, we tested forced exercise on a treadmill, and AB KO mice were also markedly impaired. In summary, AB KO mice had reduced exercise capacity by two complementary assays, likely because of blunting of the normal CO increase with exercise. 

Since then there have been many studies on activity measures in lead-dosed rats. These have used all manner of devices, from simple test systems such as the open field or running wheel, through to automated activity chambers (see Table 7a). 

Vanderkooi, J. M. and Landesberg, R. In vivo synthesis of iron-free cytochrome C during lead intoxication. FEES Lett., 73, 254 Verlangieri, A. J. (1979). Prenatal and postnatal chronic lead intoxication and running wheel activity in the rat. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav., 11, 95 Verschaeve, L., Driesen, M., Kirsch-Volders, M., Hans, L. and Susanne, C. (1979). Chromosome distribution studies after inorganic lead exposure. Hum. Genet., 49, 147... 

Running wheel apparatus (e.g., 1800/50— Activity Wheels, Ugo Basile, Comerio, Italy, or similar machines from Harvard Apparatus, Holliston, MA, or Columbus Instruments, Columbus, OH). 

Running exercise is the most effective and reliable method to stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis in rodents [7-11, 59]. This paradigm is therefore an excellent positive control for other experimental conditions under study. One easy paradigm is to give animals access to a running wheel over 3 weeks. Rodents will use the wheel overnight and run kilometers. 

Running wheel apparatus It is nice to have some device counting the total rotations or length run on the wheel. This will allow you to control the activity or correlate it to the extent of neurogenesis. 

---