Journal
BEHAVIOR GENETICS
Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 309-316Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1023/A:1012283426530
Keywords
correlated response; emotionality; exercise; open-field activity; selective breeding; wheel-running
Funding
- NIA NIH HHS [F32 AG005784, AG05784-02] Funding Source: Medline
- NICHD NIH HHS [P30 HD03352] Funding Source: Medline
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Open-field behavioral assays are commonly used to test both locomotor activity and emotionality in rodents. We performed open-field tests on house mice (Mus domesticus) from four replicate lines genetically selected for high voluntary wheel-running for 22 generations and from four replicate random-bred control lines. Individual mice were recorded by video camera for 3 min in a 1-m(2) open-field arena on 2 consecutive days. Mice from selected lines showed no statistical differences from control mice with respect to distance traveled, defecation, time spent in the interior, or average distance from the center of the arena during the trial. Thus, we found little evidence that open-field behavior, as traditionally defined, is genetically correlated with wheel-running behavior. This result is a useful converse test of classical studies that report no increased wheel-running in mice selected for increased open-field activity. However, mice from selected lines turned less in their travel paths than did control-line mice, and females from selected lines had slower travel times (longer latencies) to reach the wall. We discuss these results in the context of the historical open-field test and newly defined measures of open-field activity.
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