Relationship between free-running period and motor activity in blinded rats

doi:10.1016/0361-9230(90)90261-W

Brain Research Bulletin

Volume 25, Issue 1, July 1990, Pages 115-119

https://doi.org/10.1016/0361-9230(90)90261-W Get rights and content

Abstract

The free-running rhythms of motor activity in blinded rats were measured by two different devices, an Automex or a running wheel. The period of free-running rhythm measured by a running wheel was likely to be shorter than that measured by an Automex, indicating that subtle environmental difference, such as whether a cage is equipped with a wheel or not, can affect the free-running period. In addition, we found a negative correlation not only between the free-running period measured by a running wheel and that measured by an Automex, but between the free-running period and the number of wheel revolutions per day. This is the first evidence that motor activity, other than the external factors such as light intensity and temperature, may be related to change in the free-running period.

References (24)

D.F. Kripke et al.
Lithium slow rat circadian rhythms
Life Sci.
(1980)
L.P. Morin et al.
Effect of pinealectomy on male hamster running rhythmicity
Physiol. Behav.
(1981)
N. Yamada et al.
Free-access to a running wheel shortens the period of free-running rhythm in blinded rats
Physiol. Behav.
(1988)
J. Aschoff et al.
Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in the golden hamster (Mesocrisetus auratus) measured with two different techniques
J. Comp. Physiol.
(1973)
T.A. Baillie
The use of stable isotopes in pharmacological research
Pharmacol. Rev.
(1981)
V.G. Bruce et al.
An effect of heavy water on the phase and period of the circadian rhythm in Euglena
J. Cell. Comp. Physiol.
(1960)
S. Daan et al.
An effect of castration and testosterone replacement on a circadian pacemaker in mice (Mus musculus)
S. Daan et al.
A functional analysis of circadian pacemakers in nocturnal rodents. III. Heavy water and constant light: homeostasis of frequency?
J. Comp. Physiol.
(1976)
J.T. Enright
Heavy water slows biological timing processes
Z. Vergl. Physiologie
(1971)
M.H. Fernstrom et al.
Resting metabolic rate is reduced in patients treated with antidepressants
Biol. Psychiatry
(1985)

E. Gwiner

Effects of season and external testosterone on the free-running activity circadian rhythm of European starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris)

J. Comp. Phyisol.

(1975)

K. Hoffman et al.

Further-evidence for period lengthening effects of Li+ on circadian rhythms

Z. Naturforsch.

(1978)

Cited by (55)

Locomotor exercise and circadian rhythms in mammals
2018, Current Opinion in Physiology
Citation Excerpt :
It is now widely recognised that locomotor activity and arousal can act as time signals, or Zeitgebers, for endogenous circadian clocks, with locomotor activity itself representing both an input signal to circadian systems and a robustly rhythmic clock-controlled output, a so-called Zeitnehmer [4]. The profound ability of locomotor exercise to impact on circadian rhythms is well illustrated by the observation that simply providing a laboratory rodent with unrestricted access to a home-cage running-wheel is sufficient to significantly alter the free-running period of the animal’s circadian system [5] (Figure 1). Characterising this interaction further, a variety of different techniques have been used to acutely induce locomotor activity in nocturnal laboratory rodents with the aim of manipulating circadian function.
The timing of locomotor activity is a major rhythmic output of the mammalian circadian system but both spontaneous and induced exercise can also themselves impact on circadian rhythms across levels of organisation and in multiple tissues, including both the brain and periphery. This review briefly summarises historical research on the influences of locomotor activity and its correlates on circadian function and then discusses recent advances in this area. Locomotor exercise can acutely alter circadian phase, both of overt behavioural rhythms and in peripheral tissues, and can stably entrain rhythms in behaviour driven by the hypothalamic master circadian pacemaker in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). Locomotor activity potently and acutely suppresses both electrical activity and clock gene expression in the master circadian pacemaker of the hypothalamus, though mechanistically how this is achieved is still unclear, as are the effects of locomotor activity in diurnal species, including humans.
Effects of lighting condition on circadian behavior in 5-HT<inf>1A</inf> receptor knockout mice
2015, Physiology and Behavior
Citation Excerpt :
Alternatively, the difference in free-running period might be related to the concomitant difference in activity levels. The relationship between free-running period and locomotor activity levels is well established [51–56]. Support for this hypothesis is that the difference in period was no longer significant when the animals were housed without wheels.
Serotonin (5-HT) is an important regulator of the mammalian circadian system, and has been implicated in modulating entrained and free-running rhythms, as well as photic and non-photic phase shifting. In general, 5-HT appears to oppose the actions of light on the circadian system of nocturnal rodents. As well, 5-HT mediates, at least in part, some non-photic responses. The 5-HT1A, 1B and 7 receptors regulate these acute responses to zeitgebers. 5-HT also regulates some entrained and free-running properties of the circadian clock. The receptors that contribute to these phenomena have not been fully examined. Here, we use 5-HT_1A receptor knockout (KO) mice to examine the response of the mouse circadian system to a variety of lighting conditions, including a normal light–dark cycle (LD), T-cycles, phase advanced LD cycles, constant darkness (DD), constant light (LL) and a 6 hour dark pulse starting at CT5. Relative to wildtype mice, the 5-HT_1A receptor KO mice have lower levels of activity during the first 8 h of the night/subjective night in LD and LL, later activity onsets on transient days during re-entrainment, shorter free-running periods in LL when housed with wheels, and smaller phase shifts to dark pulses. No differences were noted in activity levels during DD, alpha under any light condition, free-running period in DD, or phase angle of entrainment in LD. While the 5-HT_1A receptor plays an important role in regulating photic and non-photic phase shifting, its contribution to entrained and free-running properties of the circadian clock is relatively minor.
Chronobiology of alcohol: Studies in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J inbred mice
2013, Physiology and Behavior
Citation Excerpt :
In this study, running-wheel activity was used as an assay of circadian pacemaker function, as in many previous experiments. It has become increasingly clear, however, that running wheel access is not a behaviorally inert procedure, and housing with running wheels alters numerous neurobehavioral parameters, including both circadian activity rhythms [51,52] and voluntary ethanol intake [53,54], in both mice and rats. Further, it is plausible that running-wheel access interacts with strain to alter these processes [35].
Human alcoholics display dramatic disruptions of circadian rhythms that may contribute to the maintenance of excessive drinking, thus creating a vicious cycle. While clinical studies cannot establish direct causal mechanisms, recent animal experiments have revealed bidirectional interactions between circadian rhythms and ethanol intake, suggesting that the chronobiological disruptions seen in human alcoholics are mediated in part by alterations in circadian pacemaker function. The present study was designed to further explore these interactions using C57BL/6J (B6) and DBA/2J (D2) inbred mice, two widely employed strains differing in both circadian and alcohol-related phenotypes. Mice were maintained in running-wheel cages with or without free-choice access to ethanol and exposed to a variety of lighting regimens, including standard light–dark cycles, constant darkness, constant light, and a “shift-lag” schedule consisting of repeated light–dark phase shifts. Relative to the standard light–dark cycle, B6 mice showed reduced ethanol intake in both constant darkness and constant light, while D2 mice showed reduced ethanol intake only in constant darkness. In contrast, shift-lag lighting failed to affect ethanol intake in either strain. Access to ethanol altered daily activity patterns in both B6 and D2 mice, and increased activity levels in D2 mice, but had no effects on other circadian parameters. Thus, the overall pattern of results was broadly similar in both strains, and consistent with previous observations that chronic ethanol intake alters circadian activity patterns while environmental perturbation of circadian rhythms modulates voluntary ethanol intake. These results suggest that circadian-based interventions may prove useful in the management of alcohol use disorders.
Feedback actions of locomotor activity to the circadian clock
2012, Progress in Brain Research
Citation Excerpt :
The presence of a home-cage running wheel shortens tau in rats and mice (Benus et al., 1988; Edgar et al., 1991; Mistlberger and Holmes, 2000; Mistlberger et al., 1998; Yamada et al., 1986, 1988) and has been suggested, though not proven, to do so in hamsters (Pratt and Goldman, 1986; though see also Aschoff et al., 1973). In rats, the magnitude of tau shortening by wheel-running correlates with the number of wheel revolutions performed (Shioiri et al., 1991; Yamada et al., 1990), an effect also seen, though somewhat inconsistently, in hamsters (Mrosovsky, 1999; Weisgerber et al., 1997). To be of functional use for entrainment, however, feedback information from locomotor activity must demonstrate the ability to synchronize free-running rhythms through repeated phase adjustments when the opportunity to indulge in locomotor activity is either offered, induced, or forced repeatedly on sequential cycles.
The phase of the mammalian circadian system can be entrained to a range of environmental stimuli, or zeitgebers, including food availability and light. Further, locomotor activity can act as an entraining signal and represents a mechanism for an endogenous behavior to feedback and influence subsequent circadian function. This process involves a number of nuclei distributed across the brain stem, thalamus, and hypothalamus and ultimately alters SCN electrical and molecular function to induce phase shifts in the master circadian pacemaker. Locomotor activity feedback to the circadian system is effective across both nocturnal and diurnal species, including humans, and has recently been shown to improve circadian function in a mouse model with a weakened circadian system. This raises the possibility that exercise may be useful as a noninvasive treatment in cases of human circadian dysfunction including aging, shift work, transmeridian travel, and the blind.
Influence of estrus cycle and ageing on activity patterns in two inbred mouse strains
2006, Behavioural Brain Research
Despite the widespread use of inbred mice in research, little is known about aging of the circadian system in female mice, although interactions between female gonadal hormones and circadian rhythms have been established. We investigated the influence of the estrus cycle on circadian aspects of running-wheel activity and changes in the course of aging in female C57BL/6 and C3H/He mice recorded continuously between the ages of 3 and 19 months. In the young, cycling mice the second part of the proestrus night was often, but not consistently, characterized by increased motor activity compared to the remaining estrus cycle nights. After estrus cycling had ceased in the course of ageing, the estrus-dependent day-to-day variability in activity was reduced. The amplitude of the daily rest–activity rhythm decreased progressively after the age of 8 months in C3H/He and 10 months in C57BL/6 mice. The capacity for resynchronisation of activity onset to the LD-cycle was compared in young and old mice after an 8-h phase advance of the LD-cycle. Resynchronisation was significantly slower in old C3H/He mice and unaffected by age in C57BL/6 mice. The circadian period in constant darkness did not change with age in either strain. However, the period was shorter in 17-month old C57BL/6 mice compared to an additional group, which was recorded at the same age, after at least 1-month adaptation to the recording conditions. The results show that the reproductive state as well as ageing influence motor activity patterns of female mice in a strain- and cohort-dependent manner.
Effects of ethanol intake and ethanol withdrawal on free-running circadian activity rhythms in rats
2005, Physiology and Behavior
Chronic alcohol intake and alcohol withdrawal are associated with dramatic disruptions of daily (circadian) biological rhythms in both human alcoholics and experimental animals. The extent to which these observations are due to pharmacological effects on the underlying circadian pacemaker is not known, however, since no human studies and very few animal studies have been conducted under free-running conditions. In the present study, free-running circadian activity (wheel-running) rhythms of rats were monitored before, during and after exposure to either 10% or 20% ethanol solution as the only drinking fluid. Across individuals, both lengthening and shortening of free-running period were observed during ethanol intake, and treatment termination led to either a return to baseline or to an exacerbation of the original ethanol effect. These variable effects appeared to be related to both ethanol concentration and to individual differences in baseline period, such that relatively short free-running period during baseline was associated with greater period-lengthening during ethanol exposure. These bidirectional affects of ethanol on free-running period are generally similar to effects seen previously with other psychoactive drugs, including antidepressants. The results of this study indicate that ethanol influences the circadian pacemaker, and that the chronobiological disruptions seen in human alcoholics may be due, in part, to alterations in circadian pacemaker regulation.

View all citing articles on Scopus

²: Present address: Division of Mental Disorder Research, National Institute of Neuroscience, NCNP, Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.

View full text

Relationship between free-running period and motor activity in blinded rats

Abstract

Life Sci.

Physiol. Behav.

Physiol. Behav.

Circadian rhythms of locomotor activity in the golden hamster (Mesocrisetus auratus) measured with two different techniques

J. Comp. Physiol.

The use of stable isotopes in pharmacological research

Pharmacol. Rev.

An effect of heavy water on the phase and period of the circadian rhythm in Euglena

J. Cell. Comp. Physiol.

An effect of castration and testosterone replacement on a circadian pacemaker in mice (Mus musculus)

A functional analysis of circadian pacemakers in nocturnal rodents. III. Heavy water and constant light: homeostasis of frequency?

J. Comp. Physiol.

Heavy water slows biological timing processes

Z. Vergl. Physiologie

Resting metabolic rate is reduced in patients treated with antidepressants

Biol. Psychiatry

Effects of season and external testosterone on the free-running activity circadian rhythm of European starlings (Sturnus Vulgaris)

J. Comp. Phyisol.

Further-evidence for period lengthening effects of Li+ on circadian rhythms

Z. Naturforsch.