Voluntary Wheel Running: A Useful Rodent Model for Investigating the Mechanisms of Stress Robustness and Neural Circuits of Exercise Motivation.

Despite evidence that exercise reduces the negative impacts of stressor exposure and promotes stress robustness, health and well-being, most people fail to achieve recommended levels of physical activity. One reason for this failure could be our fundamental lack of understanding the brain motivational and motor circuits underlying voluntary exercise behavior. Wheel running is an animal model used to reveal mechanisms of exercise-induced stress robustness. Here we detail the strengths and weakness of wheel running as a model; and propose that running begins as a purposeful, goal-directed behavior that becomes habitual with continued access. This fresh perspective could aid in the development of novel strategies to motivate and sustain exercise behavior and maximize the stress-robust phenotype.