ArticleJournal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985)2018
Reinventing the wheel: comparison of two wheel cage styles for assessing mouse voluntary running activity.
Article in Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985), 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- A multi-organ spatial metabolomic atlas of exercising mice reveals neuronal Complex I as a convergent and sufficient axis for tau pathology reduction in PS19.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Voluntary exercise in mice triggers an anti-osteogenic and pro-tenogenic response in the ankle joint without affecting long bones.Bone reports · 2024Article
- Short- and long-term outcomes of pulmonary exposure to a sublethal dose of ricin in mice.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Skeletal muscle-specific calpastatin overexpression mitigates muscle weakness in aging and extends life span.Journal of applied physiology (Bethesda, Md. : 1985) · 2021Article
- A Novel Running Wheel Mouse Model for Botulism and Its Use for the Evaluation of Postsymptom Antitoxin Efficacy.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Voluntary wheel cage assessment of mouse activity is commonly employed in exercise and behavioral research. Currently, no standardization for wheel cages exists resulting in an inability to compare results among data from different laboratories. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the distance run or average speed data differ depending on the use of two commonly used commercially available wheel cage systems. Two different wheel cages with structurally similar but functionally different wheels (electromechanical switch vs. magnetic switch) were compared side-by-side to measure wheel running data differences. Other variables, including enrichment and cage location, were also tested to assess potential impacts on the running wheel data. We found that cages with the electromechanical switch had greater inherent wheel resistance and consistently led to greater running distance per day and higher average running speed. Mice rapidly, within 1-2 days, adapted their running behavior to the type of experimental switch used, suggesting these running differences are more behavioral than due to intrinsic musculoskeletal, cardiovascular, or metabolic limits. The presence of enrichment or location of the cage had no detectable impact on voluntary wheel running. These results demonstrate that mice run differing amounts depending on the type of cage and switch mechanism used and thus investigators need to report wheel cage type/wheel resistance and use caution when interpreting distance/speed run across studies. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The results of this study highlight that mice will run different distances per day and average speed based on the inherent resistance present in the switch mechanism used to record data. Rapid changes in running behavior for the same mouse in the different cages demonstrate that a strong behavioral factor contributes to classic exercise outcomes in mice. Caution needs to be taken when interpreting mouse voluntary wheel running activity to include potential behavioral input and physiological parameters.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.