Sex differences in head‐fixed voluntary running behavior in C57BL/6J mice

Abstract

Sex differences in running behaviors between female and male mice occur naturally in the wild. Recent experiments using head‐fixed mice on a voluntary running wheel have exploited analogous locomotor activity to gain insight into the neural underpinnings of a number of behaviors ranging from spatial navigation to decision‐making. It is however largely unknown if sex differences exist between females and males in a head‐fixed experimental paradigm. To address this, we characterized locomotor activity in head‐fixed female and male C57BL/6J mice on a voluntary running wheel. First, we found that over the initial 7‐day period, on average, animals increased both the velocity and the time spent running. Furthermore, we found that female mice habituated to running forward over the initial 2 days of encountering the wheel, while male mice took up to 4 days to habituate to running forward. Taken together, we characterized features of a sexually divergent behavior in head‐fixed running that should be considered in experiments employing female and male mice.

Changes in pairwise correlations during running reshape global network state in the main olfactory bulb

“…The purpose of these sessions was to acclimate the mice to running on a wheel while head fixed. We previously found that following 5 days of exposure, both male and female mice habituate to the run wheel based on their running behavior (36) after which electrophysiology was performed.…”

Divergence in Population Coding for Space between Dorsal and Ventral CA1

“…Sex is a critical biological variable and should be considered in study design ( Shansky, 2019 ). In a previous study of head-fixed wheel running similar to the task used in this experiment, it was found that female animals behaved differently on a run wheel, including how they adapted and habituated to the wheel while being head fixed ( Warner and Padmanabhan, 2020 ). These sex differences may be related to anxiogenic behaviors, and could influence activity patterns in ventral CA1, as has been previously shown ( Ciocchi et al, 2015 ; Jimenez et al, 2018 ).…”

“…During the 7-d period immediately following head frame implantation, animals were habituated to the virtual reality environment ( Warner and Padmanabhan, 2020 ). Mice were head-fixed in the virtual environment and allowed to run for 1 h each day.…”

Divergence in Population Coding for Space between Dorsal and Ventral CA1

“…During the 7-day period immediately following head frame implantation, animals were habituated to the virtual reality environment (Warner and Padmanabhan, 2020). Mice were head-fixed in the virtual environment and allowed to run for one hour each day.…”