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Locomotor Activity and Exploration





Locomotor activity, such as that monitored in the open field test, is a core assessment in both animal model phenotyping and drug screening. Changes in spontaneous and forced locomotor activity can provide insight into a range of physiological and neurological processes, from emotional state, motor neuron function, circadian rhythm, to exercise performance. Behaviors of interest span ambulation, rearing, stereotypy (repetitive movements), exploration of novel environments, voluntary exercise (running wheel) and forced exercise (treadmill).

Running Wheel







Common Applications

  • Neurodegenerative Diseases
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Huntington's Disease
  • Stroke/Ischemia
  • Brain Injuries
  • Attention Deficit Disorders
  • Anxiety Disorders
  • Depression
  • Circadian Function
  • Spinal Injury/Recovery
  • Exercise Physiology
  • Safety Pharmacology






Exercise and Physiological Monitoring

Capture physiological changes during exercise with DSI telemetry solutions. Integrated systems available for forced treadmill running protocols, with or without online respiratory metabolism monitoring. Complementary endpoints such as heart rate, blood pressure, and EMG provide a more comprehensive assessment of experimental models, while helping to reduce animal use.

Click below to learn more about our combined technologies:
 




 






Recent References

Treadmill (Forced Exercise)
1. Ohsawa I, Kawano F. Chronic exercise training activates histone turnover in mouse skeletal muscle fibers. FASEB J. 2021 Apr;35(4):e21453.

2. Adamovich Y, Ezagouri S, Dandavate V, Asher G. Monitoring daytime differences in moderate intensity exercise capacity using treadmill test and muscle dissection. STAR Protoc. 2021 Feb 5;2(1):100331.

3. Lavier J, Beaumann M, Menétrey S. et al. High-intensity exercise in hypoxia improves endothelial function via increased nitric oxide bioavailability in C57BL/6 mice. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2021 Jun 5:e13700.

4. Sikes KJ, McConnell A, Serkova N. et al. Untargeted metabolomics analysis identifies creatine, myo-inositol, and lipid pathway modulation in a murine model of tendinopathy. J Orthop Res. 2021 Jun 3. doi: 10.1002/jor.25112.

Actimeters (Locomotor Activity/Exploration)
5. Agarkova A, Pokrovskii M, Kolesnichenko P. et al. Cerebroprotective Effects of 2-Ethyl-6-methyl-3-hydroxypyridine-2,6-dichlorophenyl(amino)phenylethanoic Acid in the Treatment of Purulent Meningitis. Biomedicines. 2021 Mar 11;9(3):285.

6. Koizumi H, Hiraga T, Oharomari LK. et al. Preventive role of regular low-intensity exercise during adolescence in schizophrenia model mice with abnormal behaviors. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2021 Jan 1;534:610-616.

7. Deng SN, Yan YH, Zhu TL. et al. Long-Term NMDAR Antagonism Correlates Weight Loss With Less Eating. Front Psychiatry. 2019 Feb 8;10:15.

Activity Wheels (Voluntary Exercise/Circadian Activity)
8. Jia YF, Wininger K, Peyton L, Ho AM, Choi DS. Astrocytic glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1) deficient mice exhibit repetitive behaviors. Behav Brain Res. 2021 Jan 1;396:112906.

9. Sonker P, Singaravel M. Gender difference in circadian clock responses for social interaction with conspecific of the opposite-sex. Chronobiol Int. 2021 Feb;38(2):212-223.

10. 53. Vetreno RP, Bohnsack JP, Kusumo H. et al. Neuroimmune and epigenetic involvement in adolescent binge ethanol-induced loss of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons: Restoration with voluntary exercise. Addict Biol. 2020 Mar;25(2):e12731.