Figure 6. High-intensity acute exercise induces anxiety-like behavior in the initial 5 minutes of open field task.

(A) Mice that performed high-intensity treadmill running traveled less total distance compared to sedentary controls at each time point. There was an interaction between treadmill condition and time, which demonstrated that total distance traveled was lower at 5–10 minutes and 10–15 minutes compared to 0–5 minutes in sedentary controls. (B) Mice that performed high-intensity treadmill running spent significantly more time self-grooming compared to sedentary controls during each time interval. (C) There was a significant effect of time on number of entries into the center of the testing arena and an interaction between time and treadmill condition. Fewer numbers of entries were observed at 5–10 minutes and 10–15 minutes compared to 0–5 minutes in the exercised mice. Mice that performed high-intensity treadmill running had fewer entries into the center of the arena during the 10–15 minute time interval compared to controls. (D) There was a significant interaction between time and treadmill condition for time spent in the center of the arena. In mice exposed to high-intensity treadmill running, there was less time spent in the center of the arena during the 10–15 minute time interval compared to the 0–5 minute time interval. Data depicted as average +/− SEM. ^# indicates significant main effect of acute exercise. ^@ indicates significant main effect of time. * indicates p<0.05 after Sidak correction for multiple comparisons.