Circadian Analysis of Rodent Locomotor Activity in Home Cages

Paul Petrus; Paolo Sassone-Corsi

doi:10.1007/978-1-0716-2249-0_14

Circadian Analysis of Rodent Locomotor Activity in Home Cages

Methods Mol Biol. 2022:2482:211-215. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2249-0_14.

Authors

Paul Petrus¹, Paolo Sassone-Corsi²

Affiliations

¹ Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, U1233 INSERM, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. ppetrus@uci.edu.
² Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism, U1233 INSERM, Department of Biological Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA.

PMID: 35610429
DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2249-0_14

Abstract

Rhythmic locomotor activity is a commonly used readout of general circadian function in animals. For instance, measuring the activity of rodents in their home cages can provide information about circadian phase and period in response to genetic, pharmacological, and environmental manipulations. Herein, the use of infrared light sensors to measure circadian locomotor activity is described. Furthermore, we provide information about data handling, analysis and software use as well as points to consider when performing the experiment.

Keywords: Actogram; Circadian rhythm; ClockLab; Infrared motion detectors; Locomotor activity; Vitalview.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Animals
Circadian Rhythm* / physiology
Locomotion
Rodentia*