Exercise Stimulates The Formation Of New Brain Cells

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Exercise Stimulates The Formation Of New Brain Cells

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=75662

Exercise has a similar effect to antidepressants on depression. This

has been shown by previous research. Now Astrid Bjornebekk at

Karolinska Institutet has explained how this can happen: exercise

stimulates the production of new brain cells.

In a series of scientific reports, she has searched for the

underlying biological mechanisms that explain why exercise can be a

form of therapy for depression and has also compared it with

pharmacological treatment with an SSRI drug.

The experiment studies were conducted on rats. The results show that

both exercise and antidepressants increase the formation of new

cells in an area of the brain that is important to memory and

learning. Astrid Bjornebekk's studies confirm previous research

results, and she proposes a model to explain how exercise can have

an antidepressant effect in mild to moderately severe depression.

Her study also shows that exercise is a very good complement to

medicines.

" What is interesting is that the effect of antidepressant therapy

can be greatly strengthened by external environmental factors, " she

says.

Previous studies have shown that drug abusers have lowered levels of

the dopamine D2 receptor in the brain's reward system. It has been

speculated that this may be of significance to the depressive

symptoms drug abusers often suffer from. These rat studies show that

genetic factors may influence how external environmental factors can

regulate levels of the dopamine D2 receptor in the brain.

" Different individuals may have differing sensitivity to how stress

lowers dopamine D2 receptor levels, for example. This might be

significant in explaining why certain individuals develop depression

more readily than others, " she says.