Figure 2. Imposed Feeding Paradigms Alter Wheel-Running Activity, Food Intake Patterns and Total Food Consumption.

Behavioral recording and quantification of food intake and wheel running for C57BL/6J mice. Each row represents one feeding condition programmed after one week of baseline recording under ad libitum feeding: (A–D) AL: ad libitum. (E–H) TR-night: 12h food access during the night. (I–L) TR-day: 12h food access during the day. (M–P) CR-night: 30% caloric restriction with 24h food access starting at the beginning of the night. (Q–T) CR-day: 30% caloric restriction with 24h food access starting at the beginning of the day.

From left to right, each column shows the following mouse behavior parameters:

(First column) Representative double-plotted actograms. Pink shading represents time of food availability and purple arrows indicate food onset. Bars on right side show recording days used for analysis; from 8 to 13 (light blue), 14 to 19 (aqua) and 38 to 43 (dark green), respectively. The LD cycle is shown in the bar across the top.

(Second column) Average 24h wheel-running activity profiles, normalized to maximum wheel counts recorded during baseline (n=6). CR increases daytime activity. The LD cycle is shown in the bar across the top.

(Third column) Average 24h pattern of food intake (n=6). TR-night resembles AL intake pattern, whereas TR-day condition shows bimodal distribution of food intake during the daytime. CR condition results in consolidation of food intake to within 2h regardless of time of day food is presented. The LD cycle is shown in the bar across the top. Each pellet weighs 0.315g with energy intake equal to 3.35Kcal/g of diet.

(Fourth column) Total daily intake per group (n=6; Shading represents ± SD).

See also data for individual mice plotted in Figures S3A–S3E and S4A–S4E.