scholarly journals Periodicity of Wheel-Running Activity in Mice in Relation to Light-Dark Cycle : II. Effects of Genotype and Constant Condition of Illumination

1979 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 99-111
Author(s):  
SHIGEHISA SEKIGUCHI ◽  
JUNSHIRO MAKINO
Keyword(s):  
Wheel Running ◽  
Constant Condition ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity

Activity rhythm of golden hamster (Mesocricetus auratus) can be entrained to a 19-h light-dark cycle

2005 ◽  
Vol 289 (4) ◽  
pp. R998-R1005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan J. Chiesa ◽  
Montserrat Anglès-Pujolràs ◽  
Antoni Díez-Noguera ◽  
Trinitat Cambras
Keyword(s):  
Golden Hamster ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Activity Rhythm ◽  
Mesocricetus Auratus ◽  
Precise Determination ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
Running Wheel ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity

Both temporary access to a running wheel and temporary exposure to light systematically influence the phase producing entrainment of the circadian activity rhythm in the golden hamster ( Mesocricetus auratus). However, precise determination of entrainment limits remains methodologically difficult, because such calculations may be influenced by varying experimental paradigms. In this study, effects on the entrainment of the activity pattern during successive light-dark (LD) cycles of stepwise decreasing periods, as well as wheel running activity, were investigated. In particular, the hamster activity rhythm under LD cycles with a period (T) shorter than 22 h was studied, i.e., when the LD cycle itself had been shown to be an insufficiently strong zeitgeber to synchronize activity rhythms. Indeed, it was confirmed that animals without a wheel do not entrain under 11:11-h LD cycles (T = 22 h). Subsequently providing hamsters continuous access to a running wheel established entrainment to T = 22 h. Moreover, this paradigm underwent further reductions of the T period to T = 19.6 h without loss of entrainment. Furthermore, restricting access to the wheel did not result in loss of entrainment, while even entrainment to T = 19 h was observed. To explain this observed shift in the lower entrainment limit, our speculation centers on changes in pacemaker response facilitated by stepwise changes of T spaced very far apart, thus allowing time for adaptation.

Sex differences in the circadian control of hamster wheel-running activity

1983 ◽  
Vol 244 (1) ◽  
pp. R93-R105 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. C. Davis ◽  
J. M. Darrow ◽  
M. Menaker
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Sex Difference ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Phase Shifts ◽  
Light Cycle ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity ◽  
Activity Onset ◽  
Males And Females

The circadian pacemaker that underlies the wheel-running activity of hamsters was studied in males and females. Sex differences were found in the mechanism by which the pacemaker entrains to light-dark cycles and in the timing of activity onset. When exposed to a light-dark cycle with a period of 24.75 h (with 1 h of light/cycle), males show a greater ability to maintain entrainment than do females. This difference in the upper limit of entrainment appears due to a sex difference in the magnitude of light-induced phase shifts. A small difference in free-running period may also contribute to the sex difference in entrainment. Two weeks after castration of adults, the sex difference in entrainment is not affected, indicating that the difference does not depend on circulating gonadal steroids or on estrous cyclicity of the female. However, castration of females at an early age increases their ability to entrain, whereas long-term castration of males seems to reduce entrainment ability. During entrainment to a 24-h light-dark cycle (LD 14:10), females were found to begin their daily activity before males and before castrated females. This difference is consistent with a sex difference in the magnitude of light-induced phase shifts and in entrainment of the pacemaker. However, evidence is given that the sex difference in activity onset might also be caused by a sex difference in the relationship of locomotor activity to the pacemaker in intact males and females.

scholarly journals SCN lesions abolish ultradian and circadian components of activity rhythms in LEW/Ztm rats

1989 ◽  
Vol 256 (5) ◽  
pp. R1027-R1039 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Wollnik ◽  
F. W. Turek
Keyword(s):  
Activity Pattern ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Dark Cycle ◽  
Spectral Estimates ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity ◽  
Neural Substrate ◽  
Free Running ◽  
Males And Females ◽  
Periodogram Analysis

A trimodal locomotor activity pattern has been observed in LEW/Ztm rats. Complete and partial lesions of the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) were used to determine whether the same neural substrate may underlie the circadian rhythms and the ultradian modulation of wheel-running activity in these rats. Whereas sham lesions had little or no effect on the wheel-running activity pattern, complete SCN lesions resulted in a complete loss of circadian and ultradian activity components under free-running or 12:12 h light-dark cycle (12:12 LD) conditions. Ultradian and circadian activity components were still present after partial SCN lesions. Periodogram analysis for any given animal revealed that the ultradian periods were always submultiples of the entrained or free-running circadian period. Furthermore there was a high correlation between the amplitudes of circadian and ultradian spectral estimates, but with a different slope in males and females. These results indicate that in LEW/Ztm rats the SCN contributes to the control of both the circadian wheel-running rhythm and the trimodal ultradian modulation of that behavior.

Differential effects of food restriction on pituitary-testicular function in mice

1985 ◽  
Vol 248 (2) ◽  
pp. R181-R189 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Blank ◽  
C. Desjardins
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Animal Models ◽  
Food Restriction ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Temporal Organization ◽  
Deer Mice ◽  
House Mice ◽  
Testicular Function ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity

The reproductive responses of two species of wild rodents, house mice and deer mice, were evaluated following a 30% reduction in food intake for 5 wk. These animal models were chosen as prototypes of other rodent species because each employs unique functional adjustments when confronted with reduced resources in their natural habitats. Modest inanition failed to alter pituitary-testicular function in house mice; neither spermatogenesis nor plasma concentrations of luteinizing hormone (LH) and testosterone were modified. In sharp distinction, deer mice exposed to restricted food intake showed significant reductions in plasma LH and testosterone and an accompanying loss in spermatogenesis. Reduced food intake also caused pronounced shifts in the temporal organization and amount of wheel-running activity in both animal models, albeit in a dichotomous fashion. House mice exhibited the same amount of wheel-running activity throughout inanition, but the diel periodicity of locomotor behavior was shifted from the dark to the light period. Deer mice, in comparison, significantly curtailed wheel-running activity during the dark hours but ran in precise phase relationship with the light-dark cycle. Taken together, our results establish that the male reproductive system and its supporting neuroendocrine and behavioral correlates can be disrupted by modest levels of food restriction in certain animal models.

Genetic analysis of daily physical activity using a mouse chromosome substitution strain

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
He S. Yang ◽  
Martha H. Vitaterna ◽  
Aaron D. Laposky ◽  
Kazuhiro Shimomura ◽  
Fred W. Turek
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Physical Activity Level ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Daily Physical Activity ◽  
Activity Level ◽  
Constant Darkness ◽  
Circadian Period ◽  
Chromosome 13 ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity

There is considerable evidence for a genetic basis underlying individual differences in spontaneous physical activity in humans and animals. Previous publications indicate that the physical activity level and pattern vary among inbred strains of mice and identified a genomic region on chromosome 13 as quantitative trait loci (QTL) for physical activity. To confirm and further characterize the role of chromosome 13 in regulating daily physical activity level and pattern, we conducted a comprehensive phenotypic study in the chromosome 13 substitution strain (CSS-13) in which the individual chromosome 13 from the A/J strain was substituted into an otherwise complete C57BL/6J (B6) genome. The B6 and A/J parental strains exhibited pronounced differences in daily physical activity, sleep-wake structure, circadian period and body weight. Here we report that a single A/J chromosome 13 in the context of a B6 genetic background conferred a profound reduction in both total cage activity and wheel-running activity under a 14:10-h light-dark cycle, as well as in constant darkness, compared with B6 controls. Additionally, CSS-13 mice differed from B6 controls in the diurnal distribution of activity and the day-to-day variability in activity onset. We further performed a linkage analysis and mapped a significant QTL on chromosome 13 regulating the daily wheel running activity level in mice. Taken together, our findings indicate a QTL on chromosome 13 with dramatic and specific effects on daily voluntary physical activity, but not on circadian period, sleep, or other aspects of activity that are different between B6 and A/J strains.

scholarly journals Strain screen and haplotype association mapping of wheel running in inbred mouse strains

2010 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-634 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Timothy Lightfoot ◽  
Larry Leamy ◽  
Daniel Pomp ◽  
Michael J. Turner ◽  
Anthony A. Fodor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Association Mapping ◽  
Wheel Running ◽  
Association Studies ◽  
Mouse Strains ◽  
Haplotype Association ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Female Mice ◽  
Running Activity ◽  
Wheel Running Activity

Previous genetic association studies of physical activity, in both animal and human models, have been limited in number of subjects and genetically homozygous strains used as well as number of genomic markers available for analysis. Expansion of the available mouse physical activity strain screens and the recently published dense single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) map of the mouse genome (≈8.3 million SNPs) and associated statistical methods allowed us to construct a more generalizable map of the quantitative trait loci (QTL) associated with physical activity. Specifically, we measured wheel running activity in male and female mice (average age 9 wk) in 41 inbred strains and used activity data from 38 of these strains in a haplotype association mapping analysis to determine QTL associated with activity. As seen previously, there was a large range of activity patterns among the strains, with the highest and lowest strains differing significantly in daily distance run (27.4-fold), duration of activity (23.6-fold), and speed (2.9-fold). On a daily basis, female mice ran further (24%), longer (13%), and faster (11%). Twelve QTL were identified, with three (on Chr. 12, 18, and 19) in both male and female mice, five specific to males, and four specific to females. Eight of the 12 QTL, including the 3 general QTL found for both sexes, fell into intergenic areas. The results of this study further support the findings of a moderate to high heritability of physical activity and add general genomic areas applicable to a large number of mouse strains that can be further mined for candidate genes associated with regulation of physical activity. Additionally, results suggest that potential genetic mechanisms arising from traditional noncoding regions of the genome may be involved in regulation of physical activity.

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