This website uses cookies. Please check our Cookies information page
Configure Accept all

Exercise: a natural remedy for depression

The benefits of exercise continue to multiply. Staying slim, losing unwanted pounds, and sculpting your abs are often cited as motivations. And more recently, it seems that the brain too can be a target for exercise thanks to several studies demonstrating its beneficial effects on cognitive performance. A new study has shown that exercise has a positive impact on depression. But how? What exactly is the relationship between exercise and mental illness?

In the brain, neurons communicate with each other via specific molecules known as neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters are released by one neuron, the sender, and act on an adjacent neuron, the receiver. Neurotransmitters include norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, and can be found in varying quantities depending on the brain area; their levels fluctuate throughout the day according to the course of external and internal events.
Research has established that depressed subjects have lower quantities of certain neurotransmitters, particularly serotonin. Antidepressants increase the concentration of free serotonin available in the brain by blocking the reuptake of this neurotransmitter by the sender neuron.

The present study, conducted by Mirko Wegner from the Institute of Sport Science at the University of Berne in collaboration with the Medical School of Hamburg (MSH) demonstrated that sports and physical activity had the same effects as antidepressants, namely the increase of serotonin in the brain. To carry out the study, the researchers analyzed 37 meta-analyses that combined results from over 40,000 people.

Depression may kill many cells in the limbic system, the central area of the brain involved in emotion, but like antidepressants, physical activity and sports stimulate serotonin levels in the blood and encourage cellular growth in the limbic system.

These results are quite encouraging as they shed light on a natural, inexpensive method for fighting this disease and managing its symptoms without side effects. However, questions remain as to the duration and frequency of exercise required to be effective.

Since depression is characterized by a loss of interest and motor retardation, finding the courage to begin exercising may in fact be the most difficult part.
Source: Wegner M, Helmich I, Machado S, Nardi AE, Arias-Carrion O, Budde H. Effects of exercise on anxiety and depression disorders: review of meta- analyses and neurobiological mechanisms. CNS Neurol Disord Drug Targets. 2014;13(6):1002-14. doi: 10.2174/18715273

Close
Login

Please type in your email address below:

LoadingPlease wait... Loading...
Close Log in
Password forgotten

Please enter the email address you are using with HAPPYneuron.
Instructions to reset your password will be sent to this email address.

LoadingSaving data...
Close
Log in

It seems that you have forgotten your password. What do you wish to do?

Close
Free Registration

Try the HAPPYneuron program for free for 7 days.

Type the characters you see in the picture below.

Reload security image
Captcha image
Terms of Service
Terms of Use
Close
Subscribe to our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter

Get the latest information and news about the brain and our special offers twice a month for free.