Source Paper
Age-related changes in behavior in C57BL/6J mice from young adulthood to middle age
Hirotaka Shoji, Keizo Takao, Satoko Hattori, Tsuyoshi Miyakawa
Molecular Brain • 2016
Rotarod Test
Objective: Assessment of motor coordination and balance on a rotating rod
This is a Rotarod Test protocol using mouse as the model organism. The procedure involves 4 procedural steps, 1 equipment items, 4 materials. Extracted from a 2016 paper published in Molecular Brain.
Model and subjects
mouse • C57BL/6J and genetically engineered mice with C57BL/6J genetic background • male • Not specified • Not specified • 1739
Study window
~1 day study window
Core workflow
Animal housing and maintenance • Behavioral test battery ordering • Rotarod test execution
Primary readouts
- Motor coordination performance
- Balance maintenance on rotating rod
- Latency to fall from apparatus
Key equipment and reagents
Use this page as an execution guide, then fall back to the source paper whenever you need exact exclusions, dosing details, or assay-specific caveats.
Confirm first
- Verify the animal model, intervention setup, and collection timepoints against the source paper.
- Check that every direct vendor link matches the exact specification your lab plans to run.
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- Work through the protocol steps in order and use the inline vendor chips only when you need to source or verify an item.
- Jump to Experimental Context for readouts, data shape, and analysis flow before planning downstream analysis.
Protocol Steps
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Animal housing and maintenance
House mice in plastic cages with sterilized PaperClean Bedding under 12-hour light/dark cycle with lights on at 7:00 am. Provide ad libitum access to CRF-1 food and water.
Note: Housing density varied: 1.3% housed with 1 animal per cage, 2.3% with 2, 6.7% with 3, 80.1% with 4, 8.9% with 5, and 0.7% with 6 animals per cage at beginning of test battery
View evidence from paper
“housed in plastic cages with sterilized PaperClean Bedding (Japan SLC) under a 12-hr light/dark cycle (lights on at 7:00 am) with access to food (CRF-1, Oriental Yeast Co., Ltd.) and water ad libitum”
Behavioral test battery ordering
Perform rotarod test as part of a standardized behavioral test battery. The typical order is: general health and neurological screening, light/dark transition, open field, elevated plus maze, hot plate, social interaction, rotarod, startle response/prepulse inhibition, Porsolt forced swim, Barnes maze, contextual and cued fear conditioning, and tail suspension tests.
Note: More than 75% of mice were subjected to tests in accordance with the standard order, although some strains had tests omitted or reordered
View evidence from paper
“The mice were generally tested in the following order; general health and neurological screening, light/dark transition, open field, elevated plus maze, hot plate, social interaction, rotarod, startle response/prepulse inhibition, Porsolt forced swim, Barnes maze, contextual and cued fear conditioning, and tail suspension tests. The interval between tests was at least 1 day.”
Rotarod test execution
Conduct rotarod test to assess motor coordination and balance. Specific parameters of the rotarod test (speed, duration, acceleration) are not detailed in the provided methods section.
Note: Test performed between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Some mice may fall from the apparatus during testing.
View evidence from paper
“Behavioral testing was performed between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.”
Apparatus cleaning and disinfection
After all behavioral tests are completed, clean all apparatus with super hypochlorous water and 70% ethanol to prevent bias due to olfactory cues.
Note: This cleaning protocol applies to all apparatus used in the behavioral test battery
View evidence from paper
“After the tests, all apparatus were cleaned with super hypochlorous water and 70% ethanol to prevent a bias due to olfactory cues.”