Introduction and Background

Each individuals have different skills of learning. However, it is about the learning

process and memory that will make you learn better. According to the research done by Dr.

Mercola, the learning process and memory can be improved by doing exercise (September 18,

2014). The study behind this statement shows that every time of exercising, the brain will work

at optimum capacity. Also, it affects the chemical that relate to growth hormone in the body that

will make people remember more things. To bring this point up, since the several advantages of

exercise are demonstrated, it is very essential and interesting to conduct the experiment that

based on the benefits of exercise. Therefore, the central research question is, Can the hamster

that regularly exercises has a better learning development than the hamster that not exercise?

The topics that will be related to this research question are scientific benefits of exercise,

characteristic of rodents and hamsters, ways animal learn, hamsters general behaviors and

personalities, and methods of teaching and training animals. All of those information are

important to hamsters life. Those knowledge has to be well researched so that the errors wont

be occurred or occurred as least as possible throughout the experiment.

Although, there are several experiments that are already conducted and use the baiting

process, but in this experiment, the treats will be placed in a specific point somewhere in the

maze. Instead of placing all the way to the end same as other experiments found, the amount of

treats in this experiment will reduce as the hamsters get more used to the maze. Thus, the

purpose of this experiment is to proof that exercise really enhances the animals brain and if it is

verifiable in hamsters, then it could have relevance in human as well. As a consequence,

acknowledgement of benefits of exercise could encourage people to be aware of doing exercise

and ultimately improve individuals health .

The reason to use hamsters in this experiment because hamsters is rodent. Rodents are

usually used in the experiment that relate to medical research. Instead of using humans, rodents

often used because of their biologically similar to human. Also, they have short life span, so it

will show the result in shorter period than using human.

Testing this statement, two hamsters will be treated in different condition. One of the

hamster will be train to work out routinely and another will be treat as a normal pet. After that,

both of them will be trained to solve the maze. Then, the result of this experiment will be

measured by the time taken that hamsters use to solve the maze by themselves.

To make this project successful, training the hamster is one of the most important step in

this experiment. Classical conditioning is chosen to use to train both of the hamsters. This

classical conditioning is a strategy to train behavioral training. Classical conditioning in a

nutshell would be using a stimulus that the animal is fearful. To support this, there was an

experiment conducted by Ivan Pavlov called, Pavlovs Dog. This experiment is conducted by

making the dog to associate the sound of bell with food. To briefly explain, first, the bell was

rung and the dog didnt react. Second, the bell rang again but this time with the smell of food,

causing the dog to salivate. Third, they kept repeating this until they have noticed that once the

bell was rung the dog salivate even without food nearby. Therefore, they concluded that the dog

has associated the sound of the bell ringing with food. As a result, this process could be used to

train the hamsters. There 4 main types of classical conditioning, which are flooding,

desensitization, graded exposure, and counter conditioning. The one that will be used in this
experiment is counter conditioning since it is known to be the fastest method to encounter the

fear of animals to humans.

Literature Review

Exercise is one of the best ways to improve individuals health. There are severals

benefits that are the by-product of doing exercise. According to the research study conducted by

the New York University School of Medicine, it claims that exercise can increase the production

of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is the specific protein that enhances

memory and growth of nerve cells. In order to explain this argument, the experiment is

conducted by comparing two group of mices brains: mice that run on cage wheel and mice that

not run at all. The methodology used to investigate this experiment is determining the BDNF

production level of each animals brain cells. After finishing the experiment, the result comes out

that the running rodents have more BDNF production which benefits their brain (June 2, 2016).

Therefore, it is very important to be aware that exercise is essential to all animals and human

since it has a positive impact to each individuals brain.

Although, the methodology used in this experiment is clearly stated of what to be

observed, it still lacks of a detailed explanation of what to do in particular steps. For example, the

chemicals and materials used to determine the BDNF production arent mentioned at all.

Therefore, it might be difficult for other scientists to follow this experiment if it was to be

conducted again. Moreover, this experiment is focused on the production level of BDNF only. It

doesnt bring up other chemicals that could be affected by exercise as well. This to be clarify as

when rodents do the exercise, not only the BDNF production increases but the formation of new

brain cells also increases. The last thing to be reviewed is the amount of exercise needed. It
supports that exercise is beneficial for animals brain but it doesnt tell how much exercise is

needed. This matter due to the fact that too much exercise can be harm to animals so that this

experiment should indicate that exact amount of exercise in order to minimize that weakness of

its observation.

The experimental research, which is carried by Professor Bischofberger and his co-

investigators and published in the Brain Plasticity journal, states that exercise help in new brain

cells development, in other word neurogenesis. These new brain cells are responsible for

learning and memory.. In order to determine the learning development process, Professor

Bischofberger tests the ability of pattern separation in mice and together with its long-term

memory. The experimental procedure is divided into 4 parts. Firstly, the mice are separated into 2

groups: one that housed with running wheels and one with sedentariness. Then, those mice are

exposed to two identical objects. After 1 hours 30 minutes pass, one of the objects is replaced

with new thing. Lastly, after 24 hours pass, one of those objects are swapped again with a similar

object (same color but different in shape). The result reveals that running and sedentary mice can

distinguish similar and distinct objects after 1 hours and 30 minutes pass. Nevertheless, only

running mice can distinguish similar looking objects after 24 hours pass. These outcomes can be

concluded that the running mice have a better ability of pattern separation and longer-term

memory. In addition to the pattern separation ability, Professor Bischofberger does the further

investigation which is to investigate the changing in brain bells between those two group of

mice. The result shown also carries along with the previous experiment which can bring to the

end that running mice have developed more brain cells and have a longer dendrites. This leads to

a better learning development (November 25, 2015).

 Both experiments conducted by New York University School of Medicine and Professor

Bischofberger reach an agreement on the benefit of exercise. They all claim that exercise can

improve animals health. However, Professor Bischofbergers experiment focuses on the ability

of pattern separation, memorization and brain cells. They are the significant considerations of

this experiment. Since more experiments are conducted, the results shown will be more accurate

and reliable than the previous research conducted by the New York University School of

Medicine. In addition to the variety of experiments, the detailed methodology is also well-plan

out. Each steps are clearly stated so the other people or scientists can easily follow this

experiment again. Nonetheless, same as the previous experiment, the amount of exercise needed

isnt clearly mentioned. This experiment could be improved by indicating how long should

animals do exercise.

February issues of the journal of physiology has published another experiment about the

benefits of exercise tested by the rodents. It argues that sustained aerobic exercise is the most

effective for brain health because it gives remarkable formation of new brain cells or in a

scientific word neurogenesis. In the experiment, the scientists divided rodents into 4 groups

and let each group perform its assigned activity for 6 weeks. The mice in the first group, an

aerobic exercise group, are given a running wheel in their cages so they can run anytime as they

want. The mice in the second group which is a resistance training group are given weights that

will be attached to their tail when they climb a tiny ladder in their house. The third group mice

will be given to exercise heavily. They have to do running bursts on a running wheel for 15

minutes. The last group, which is the sedentary group, dont have to do anything. After the 6

weeks pass, all the rodents will be injected with a substance in order to determine creation of
new brain cells. Finally, the result affirms that aerobic exercise group has the greatest amount of

neurogenesis (February 20, 2016).

As three of the experiments all prove that by exercise regularly in a certain amount, the

animals brain health can be effectively improved. For the third experiment which is published in

the journal of physiology, it consists of 4 group controls. The more group controls, the more

capability of generating results. The reason is that group controls allow the researchers and

scientists to eliminate and isolate the variables that not finally support the hypothesis or the

argument. By this, the final result of the experiment will come out more accurate and realistic.

Unlike the two previous experiment, this one indicates the exact amount exercise for the rodents

that should be done

Notwithstanding, according to the methodology used in this experiment, the mice in

group two and three might be stressed because the mice in group two are forced to attach their

tails with weight and mice in group 3 are forced to do a heavy exercise which both of them

definitely dont want to do that assigned activity. It matters because the mice could be unhappy

and dissatisfied by doing the experiment. As a result, this experiment harm the animals in both

physical and mental ways.

Overall, it may be said that the experiment that is carried by Professor Bischofberger and

his co-investigators is the most valid and appropriate one. Firstly, it has a variety of experiments

conducted. It uses two types of investigation (ability of pattern separation and changing brain

cells) to test the same assumption. Since the experiments from the New York University School

of MEdicine and the journal of physiology conduct only one type of investigation, Professor

Bischofbergers experiment comes out to be more persuasive and reliable to the audiences.
Furthermore, this experiment doesnt harm the animals like the third one so it is more valid and

appropriate. In agreement with this research study, the methodology that will be used is similar

to Professor Bischofbergers experiment. However, the way to collect the data is different. In this

experiment, the maze is used to test the learning development process of hamster instead of

determining the change of brain cells. By this way, the results will be shown visually and clear.

In the second experiment, the result shown couldnt be recognized by eyes. Thus, the errors

could be occurred since there might be some chemical loss before the actual investigation that

will affect the final result. When compare to this experiment, there wont be any data loss in

since the data shown can visualize the result by eyes directly, no need of any chemicals theory

used. In consequence, this experiment shows the action of the hamster making this as a better

evidence than the chemical proof, because it shows the performance of it clearly.

Research Question

Can the hamster that regularly exercises has a better learning development than the hamster that

not exercise?

Hypothesis

If the hamster regularly exercises, then it will take lesser time to learn which mean that it has a

better learning development.

Material

For experiment

2 male hamsters

1 cage with a running wheel

1 cage without a running wheel

 1 bag of wood dust

4 cups of snacks

2 water bottles

For maze building

Cardboard box

Plastic board (future board)

Cutter

Ruler

Glue gun

Glue stick

Methodology

From a research study that was conducted by Mouse association, it demonstrates that

rodents are scared of humans and they will hide when big animals are around, in this case is the

human (n.d.). However, their experiment was based on mice.

Other information about hamsters fear, as reported by the online journal article

pets.mom.me, they trained their hamsters by handing them treats for about 3-4 times a day, so

that the hamster could get used to the members of the experimenters. They repeated the process

for about 10 days (for about 5 days due to time constraints, in the experiment). They built a

maze, which the correct path is rewarded with a treat, the wrong way will be given a dust of

chalk (n.d.).
 By those information found from researching, the first thing need to be done before

doing anything is to make the hamsters get used to the members in the group. In other words,

getting to know each other before training. This is to make the hamsters to feel comfortable with

the experimenters first so that it would know that they wouldnt be threatened. However, the

maze will be made similarly, but it will be adapted with some tweaks which will be presented

below.

Part1: Counter conditioning

1. Introducing the mice to members

A. Handing a treat to the hamsters, slowly

B. Repeating step a for 2 to 3 times a day, doing this for about 3 to 4 days.

2. Trust gained

A. Start pating the hamsters softly

B. Hand a treat immediately

C. Start handling the hamster in hands, away from his cage *work with the hamsters in a

place free from potentially harmful situations.

Part 2: Once the hamster is used handling by the members, the hamsters can now proceed to the

maze phase. Since the maze will be made out of a cardboard box, sections will be added later on

to the maze to make it more complicated as time passes.

1. Add one right turn in the maze

2. Put a treat on the corner of the turn

3. Add a turn that has a dead end

4. Keep adding sections that have been planned out

5. At the end of the maze, there will be wood dusts, sunflower seeds, and water in a mini-room

Maze Design

The maze will be a combination of both cardboard box, and a plastic board (future

board). As the project aims to make the experiment about the animal. There is a big concern

about the adaptation of the animal to the maze, so materials that are being made should support

and be compatible with the rodent. The maze will be made with the similar environment as they

were in the cage. This means that there will be some wood dust in the maze as well. This will

make the hamsters feel more comfortable and relax to do things. The maze will be made of

cardboard and the future board as it is abundant to find. The future board is set up like a pathway

for them which is in the form of zigzag, so this can be best used in the experiment, it will help us

to raise the hamster easier and more realistic. Then, treats will be a bait for them to accomplish

the maze. The maze will be decorated, and as consideration the maze will be a square shape, then

put a future board as a wall for them to make it more complex.

The figures shown below are the ideal maze that will be made throughout the experiment.

As the hamsters get use to the first maze and able to run through the maze by themselves, the

pieces of future board will be added to the box in order to make it more complicated. This step

will be repeated again and again for six times until hamsters can run the final maze, the most

complicated one (the maze#6).

Maze #1

Maze #2

Maze #3

Maze #4
 Maze #5

Maze #6

As stated by the research study of ASPCA Mouse Care, it asserts that the maze used to

run the hamsters shouldnt be too complicated. It should be very simple at first so the hamsters

wont get frustrated (n.d.). This is the reason why this experiment decided to keep adding twists

and turns to the maze as the hamsters learn which also will keep them interested to do the

assigned activity.
Ethical/ humane statement

This experiment needs to be safe and humane for the hamsters because hamsters are

animals that have similar feelings same as human does. So, they must be treated carefully by not

harming them in physically or mentally way.

To begin with, exercising is their first stage, since the research question want to find out

that the exercise can improve the running hamsters learning development or not. This

experiment would not harm them physically, but enhancing their health is also one of

experiment's goals. Secondly, due to the fact the being aware of the hamster's mentality is very

important, stresses will need to be kept in account so that the hamster wont be harmed mentally.

Stress has an impact on any duration of the hamsters life and it naturally respond to things in

their surroundings.

According to the research study done by American Physiological Society, basically,

hamsters like to be alone but they are also friendly. They are vegetarian so they love to eat

bananas, strawberries, carrots, lettuces, and etc. They dont like their cage to be dirty while they

are sleeping. They also like to hide or burrow in places. There might be a conflict happen if two

hamsters are put in the same cage based on their personalities. Thus, two hamsters will be

separated in different cages. They would be fed at least 10% of fruits in every meal especially

banana, strawberry, carrot or lettuce to make them happy. And also feed banana, strawberry,

carrot or lettuce while they are going to be trained. Moreover, hamsters prefer to burrow in
places. The hut will be built in the cages to make them to feel safe, also the mess will be cleaned

up everyday so they would not feel uncomfortable in their cages. (May 8, 2006). When hamsters

are stress, they will act out a certain posture that shows they are being threatened, and they dont

like it. It is very important to understand and learn about the conditions that could cause stress to

hamsters so that those conditions would be minimized or even stopped.

The environment is also the major cause of stress. Hamsters dont like a small area to

live, extreme temperature, and noiceness. In addition, they never over eat. In order to minimize

these causes of stress, firstly the place that doesnt contain a lot of people should be well

prepared. The place will be moderated in size and ventilated with a room temperature which is

the most suitable temperature for hamsters to live. Since, they have no over eat, therefore, after

hamsters finish their meal, the bowl has to be cleaned every time. Caffeine, chocolates, alcohol

and cigarettes are the most avoidance in this experiment because any of them can be very

harmful to the hamsters as well as an error for this experiment.

The hamsters could be shown by internal and external ways when they are stressed. They

might decrease eating food or drinking water, decreased playing wheel time, hair loss, hiding in

their hut and not playing as normal, dont want to be handled and immediately bite when being

handled. If one of the stress are presented by the hamsters, the reason of that stress will be

immediately identify and solved it as soon as possible Beginning of May: Dealing with hamsters,

get them used to human

Timeline

8-12th of May: The maze will be constructed. Sections are made to be able to be removed and

install, to vary the complexity of the maze as the hamster is trained, together with record the

video. As well as dealing with hamsters, get them used to human.

15-25th of May: Editing the video while writing the reflection

Limitations

There are such limits to this experiment, and it will likely cause errors on this experiment,

but no harm to the animal whatsoever. The major limitation is the time constraint, since time is

limited the hamster might not be able to learn with its full potential, which can plausibly make

plans that are scheduled not to be done all. The another limitation of the design is if the rodent

are stress and they dont want to play, or do things that are assigned to do. However, this problem

can be solved by the use of food as the bait to persuade them to the assigned activities.

Data Collection

Those hamsters will be observed while they run the maze. The time they used to run will

be recorded by the timer in every single rounds. Since both hamsters, running one and sedentary

one, are taught and trained in a same way, in order to determine the learning progress, the time it

takes to learn is the one to be measured, not the time it takes to get out of the maze. At the very

first time, some food and snack are absolutely needed as a reward for hamster to learn better and

get them be familiar to the maze. Therefore, the time will be recorded from the first time they

start to run a maze until the hamsters are able to run the maze without making any mistakes.

Those amount of time will be recorded in the data table (see the sample below).
 Time taken by Running Time taken by Sedentary making mistakes
Hamster Hamster or not
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
Total time taken

After those data are collected, time each hamsters used will be added together and then compared

to see whether the running hamster or sedentary hamsters take the least amount of time. By

doing this, it will give the answer to the research question that have made earlier.

Conclusion

The point of completing this experiment is to ensure that exercise can be essential

component in learning development. If it is on target of this experiment which is appropriate in

hamsters, then it could be applied to human, too. Therefore, this experiment would encourage

people to improve fitness for their health and increase their ability of learning development.
Bibliography

11 Surprising Factors That Mess With Your Memory. (n.d.). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/09/18/11-factors-affect-
memory.aspx

Bischofberger, J. (2015, November 25). Can physical exercise enhance long-term memory?
Retrieved April 27, 2017, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2015/11/151125104750.htm

Entertainment, S. P. (n.d.). Animal Behavior & Learning. Retrieved April 18, 2017, from https://
seaworld.org/animal-info/animal-infobooks/animal-training/animal-behavior-and-
learning/

Hamster Body Language & Behavior: What it Means. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2017, from
https://www.caringpets.org/how-to-take-care-of-a-hamster/behavior-body-language/

Mice on wheels show scientists how exercise benefits their brains. (2016, June 02). Retrieved
April 25, 2017, from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/06/160602083254.htm

Novak, C. M., Burghardt, P. R., & Levine, J. A. (2012, January 02). The use of a running wheel
to measure activity in rodents: Relationship to energy balance, general activity, and
reward. Retrieved April 24, 2017, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC4455940/

Rats Do Resistance Training To Make Your Brain Healthier. (2016, February 20). Retrieved April
26, 2017, from http://www.acsh.org/news/2016/02/20/aerobic-exercise-linked-to-brain-
growth-rodent-study-suggests