TECHNOLOGY UPDATE

The Rotarod
1 2
KATHLEEN PRITCHETT, DVM, DIPLOMATE, ACLAM AND GUY B. MULDER, DVM, MS, DIPLOMATE, ACLAM

Purpose: The rotarod, also known as the rotarod test, is used

as a basic assessment tool for coordination and balance in ro-
dents and provides one measure of locomotor ability (1, 2).
Additional behavioral tests that assess locomotor ability include
the open field assessment, the balance beam, the hanging wire/
grip test, the vertical pole test, and walking pattern analysis. In
its most basic form, the rotarod is comprised of a rotating cylin-
der upon which an animal is placed. As the cylinder rotates, the
animal must move forward to keep from falling off the cylinder.
The cylinder is elevated above a padded landing area to reduce
the risk of injury to animals that fall. Animals with deficits affect-
ing balance or coordination fall from the apparatus more quickly
than animals with normal motor function. The rotarod has been
proposed as one of a number of behavioral tests for phenotyping
genetically modified mice (3-5).
Methods: The rotarod apparatus consists of a rotating cylin-
der, typically 3-3.5 cm in diameter for mice and 7-7.5 cm in
diameter for rats (Fig. 1). The cylinder is usually made of a solid
material such as rubber. The rotation of the rod may be manual
or, most usually today, motor-driven. Many rotarod devices are
designed to accommodate simultaneous testing of multiple sub-
jects. The cylinder is mounted above a platform, typically at a
height of 15 cm for mice and 30 cm for rats. The platform may Figure 1. An automated rotarod apparatus which may be used to study
be equipped with sensors that allow the device to cease rotation more than one animal at a time. This testing apparatus can be attached
and record ending time of the test when an animal contacts the to a computer to automatically gather data on the animals performance.
Photograph of the Rotamex 4/8 kindly supplied by Columbus Instru-
platform or breaks an infrared beam. Devices may also be
ments, Columbus, Ohio.
equipped with timers that allow for automatic recording of time
from start of the test to when the animal contacts the platform.
be allowed to recover from surgery for a minimum of 24 h prior
This period of time, or latency to fall, is the dependent variable
to testing. Drugs and experimental compounds may be adminis-
of the test.
tered just prior to testing.
Rotarods may be classified into two basic categories, constant
speed and accelerating rotarods. The cylinders of constant speed Animal welfare considerations: Investigators should ensure
devices rotate at a set speed, for example, 5 rotations per minute that the animals land on a soft surface when they fall from the
rod. Since behavioral testing apparatuses are often difficult or
(rpm) or higher. Animals are then assessed for their ability to
impossible to disassemble and properly disinfect due to their
remain on the rotating cylinder for a minimum amount of time,
complexity, or the materials used, this must be taken into con-
i.e. 1-5 minutes. Accelerating rotarods gradually increase speed
over a predetermined period of time (6). The test can begin sideration when planning trials. The use of shared equipment
with a stationary cylinder or animals may be placed on a slowly or trials involving animals of different health statuses may ex-
pose clean animals to unwanted pathogens.
moving cylinder and the speed of the cylinder then increased.
For example, over a one to five minute period, the cylinder may
accelerate to a maximum speed of 40 rpm. References
Variations on the rotarod: The cylinder is typically made of a 1. Crawley, J. N. 2003. Behavioral phenotyping of rodents. Comp.
solid substrate such as rubber. The cylinder may be modified by Med. 53:140-146.
using stainless steel bars or wire mesh as the walking surface. 2. Buccafusco, J. J. (ed.). 2001. Methods of behavior analysis in neu-
With such modifications, animals may be able to cling to, and roscience. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla.
3. Crawley, J. N. 2000. What's wrong with my mouse?: behavioral
rotate with, the rod. When this occurs, after one or two com-
phenotyping of transgenic and knockout mice. Wiley-Liss, New York.
plete rotations, the test should be considered complete, and the 4. Hatcher, J. P., D. N. Jones, D. C. Rogers, P. D. Hatcher, C. Reavill,
time recorded. Inbred strains of mice may perform differently J. J. Hagan, and A. J. Hunter. 2001. Development of SHIRPA to
on the test (7). For strains that perform poorly on introduction characterise the phenotype of gene-targeted mice. Behav. Brain
to the rotarod, it may be beneficial to acclimate the animals to Res. 125:43-47.
the apparatus prior to beginning the study. Animals with experi- 5. van der Staay, F. J. and T. Steckler. 2001. Behavioural phenotyping
mentally induced lesions to the CNS and animals receiving of mouse mutants. Behav. Brain Res. 125:3-12.
therapeutic and experimental compounds may also be tested 6. Jones, B. J. and D. J. Roberts. 1968. A rotarod suitable for quantita-
tive measurements of motor incoordination in naive mice. Naunyn.
for motor deficits using the rotarod. Lesioned animals should
Schmiedebergs Arch. Pharmacol. 259:211.
Charles River Laboratories, 251 Ballardvale St., Wilmington, Massachusetts 01887-10001; 7. Cook, M. N., V. J. Bolivar, M. P. McFadyen, and L. Flaherty. 2002.
University Laboratory Animal Resources, University of California-Irvine, 147 BSA, Irvine, Behavioral differences among 129 substrains: implications for
California 92612-13102 knockout and transgenic mice. Behav. Neurosci. 116:600-611.

Volume 42, No. 6 / November 2003 CONTEMPORARY TOPICS 2003 by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science 49