Reinforcing properties of wheel running

当前我国面临的健康危机之一就是肥胖症的流行。超重和缺乏锻炼会带来严重的健康后果(如心脏病、糖尿病、高血压)，治疗费用高昂。缺乏运动(例如久坐不动的生活方式)被认为是导致这一“流行病”的主要因素。解决这个问题的一种方法是增加锻炼的参与度。要做到这一点，了解影响体育锻炼动机的因素将是有用的。我的研究项目通过在动物模型中研究影响跑步动机的条件来解决这个问题。在我的实验室里，老鼠通过按下杠杆来获得奔跑的机会。动物为了奔跑的机会会付出多大的努力，这告诉我们动物奔跑的动力有多大，或者换句话说，跑步对动物来说是多么有回报。影响跑步回报价值的条件还没有像食物和水那样得到广泛的调查，因此了解更多关于跑步回报价值的信息可能是有益的。它与食物和水的有益价值有何不同，又有哪些相似之处？

One of the current health crises facing our country is the obesity "epidemic". Excessive weight and a lack of exercise carry serious health consequences (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, hypertension) that are costly to treat. Physical inactivity (e.g. a sedentary lifestyle) is considered to be a major contributing factor to this "epidemic". One way to address this issue would be to increase participation in exercise. To do this it would be useful to understand the factors that influence motivation to engage in physical activity. My research program addresses this issue by studying the conditions that influence motivation to run in an animal model. In my lab, rats work, by pressing a lever, to obtain an opportunity to run. How hard the animal will work for an opportunity to run tells us how motivated the animal is to run or put another way, how rewarding running is for that animal. The conditions that influence the rewarding value of running have not been as extensively investigated as those for food and water so it may be beneficial to learn more about the rewarding value of running. How does it differ from, and in what ways is it similar to, the rewarding value of food and water?