Total Revolutions
Cumulative wheel turns per recording period
ConductVision · Behavioral Analysis
Activity Wheel
Monitor voluntary running and circadian rhythm patterns with continuous wheel tracking.
RodentCircadianAuto Export
ConductVision / Activity Wheel
Recording / Trial 3subject tracked
Revolutions8420
Distance5.2km
Peak Speed32cm/s
Key Parameters
Metrics automatically extracted by ConductVision.
Running Distance
Total distance based on wheel circumference and revolutions
Peak Running Speed
Maximum instantaneous velocity during active bouts
Active Period Duration
Total time spent running above a minimum threshold
Circadian Phase
Onset and offset of activity relative to light cycle
Bout Analysis
Number, duration, and inter-bout intervals of running episodes
+ 6 more parameters trackedShow allHide
Mean Running Speed
Average velocity during active bouts
Dark Phase Activity
Running volume during the dark (active) cycle phase
Light Phase Activity
Running during the light (rest) cycle phase — normally minimal
Activity Onset
Time of first sustained running bout relative to lights-off
Free-Running Period
Endogenous circadian period under constant conditions
Day-to-Day Consistency
Coefficient of variation of daily running distance
What is the Activity Wheel?
Activity wheels provide a continuous readout of voluntary locomotion and circadian activity patterns. Rodents with access to a running wheel self-regulate their activity, making this assay sensitive to disruptions in circadian rhythm, motivation, and motor function.
ConductVision logs wheel revolutions with millisecond precision, generating actograms, periodograms, and bout-level statistics. The system supports multi-day recordings for circadian studies and acute drug challenge experiments.
Protocol Parameters
| Parameter | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Wheel Diameter | Running wheel size | 12 cm (mouse) / 35 cm (rat) |
| Wheel Resistance | Running surface friction | Low-resistance bearing |
| Sensor Type | Revolution detection mechanism | Magnetic reed switch |
| Recording Duration | Continuous monitoring period | 7–28 days |
| Bin Size | Temporal resolution for activity counts | 1 min or 10 min |
| Light Cycle | Standard light/dark schedule | 12:12 LD |
| Constant Conditions | For free-running period assessment | DD (constant dark) |
| Housing | Wheel access within home cage | Attached to cage lid |
| Habituation | Acclimation to wheel before recording | 3–5 days |
Interpreting Results
↓
Decreased Running Distance
Reduced voluntary activity — motor impairment, depression-like anhedonia, or sickness behavior after LPS challenge.
↑
Increased Running Distance
Hyperactivity or exercise drive — mania models, psychostimulant administration, or exercise addiction phenotype.
↑
Altered Circadian Phase
Phase advance or delay — shifted activity onset indicates circadian clock disruption, common in Clock mutant and Per2 knockout mice.
↑
Increased Light Phase Activity
Circadian fragmentation — running during the rest phase indicates clock desynchronization or sleep disruption.
↓
Shortened Free-Running Period
Altered endogenous clock — period shorter than 24 h under constant dark, seen in tau mutant hamsters and CK1δ mutations.
↓
Reduced Day-to-Day Consistency
Unstable activity patterns — high variability in daily running volume suggests circadian or motivational instability.
Research Applications
Circadian Biology
- Clock gene mutants — Per1/2, Cry1/2, Clock, Bmal1 knockout activity profiling
- Jet lag and shift work — light cycle phase shifts and re-entrainment kinetics
- SCN lesion studies — suprachiasmatic nucleus ablation effects on free-running rhythms
Exercise & Motivation
- Voluntary exercise — neurogenesis, BDNF upregulation, and cognitive enhancement studies
- Anhedonia — reduced wheel running as a behavioral despair endpoint in depression models
- Exercise addiction — compulsive running models and dopaminergic reward circuit involvement
Neurodegeneration & Metabolic
- Parkinson's disease — progressive running decline in alpha-synuclein and 6-OHDA models
- Huntington's disease — early circadian disruption before overt motor symptoms in R6/2 mice
- Metabolic studies — wheel running effects on glucose tolerance, obesity, and metabolic syndrome
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