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  "path": "/2026/06/why-hamsters-run-on-wheels-according-to-30-years-of-research/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-04T00:00:41.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.optimistdaily.com",
  "tags": [
    "Evergreen",
    "Health",
    "Lifestyle",
    "Nutrition & Wellness",
    "Science",
    "animals",
    "Behavior",
    "dopamine and exercise",
    "hamster wheel behavior",
    "health",
    "Research",
    "rodent behavior science",
    "science",
    "why hamsters run on wheels",
    "wild mice exercise wheels",
    "Why hamsters run on wheels, according to 30 years of research",
    "The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News"
  ],
  "textContent": "BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM In 2014, researchers placed exercise wheels in two natural outdoor settings and left them there. Wild mice found the wheels and ran on them, sometimes for up to 18 minutes at a stretch, with no training and no food reward. The running continued long after all the bait was […]\n\nThe post Why hamsters run on wheels, according to 30 years of research first appeared on The Optimist Daily: Making Solutions the News.",
  "title": "Why hamsters run on wheels, according to 30 years of research"
}