Bidirectional Association between Physical Activity and Dopamine Across Adulthood—A Systematic Review

Abstract

Physical activity (PA) may influence the secretion of neurotransmitters and thereby have positive consequences for an individual’s vulnerability (i.e., reducing anxiety and depressive symptoms). This systematic review aims to analyse the potential bidirectional effects of exercise on dopamine from young adulthood to old age. The article search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science in December 2020. The inclusion criteria were longitudinal and experimental study design; outcomes included dopamine and exercise; effect of exercise on dopamine and vice versa; adults; and articles published in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Fifteen articles were included in the review. We observed robust findings concerning the potential effects of PA on dopamine, which notably seem to be observable across a wide range of participants characteristics (including age and sex), a variety of PA characteristics, and a broad set of methods to analyse dopamine. By contrast, regarding the potential effects of dopamine on PA, findings were mixed across studies. Thus, there are robust effects of physical exercise on dopamine. These findings further strengthen the idea that innovative approaches could include PA interventions for treating and preventing mental disorders. Therefore, it seems that PA is a potential alternative to deal with mental health issues.

Dopamine, Psychosis, and Symptom Fluctuation: A Narrative Review

“…The improvement of many mental health conditions after exercise has been attributed to observed changes in brain connections that depend on catecholamine path-ways. This agrees with indirect evidence that improvement after exercise is mostly seen in executive functions, the functions most impacted by dopaminergic disruption [ 133 ].…”

Factors Associated with the Level of Physical Activity in Middle-Aged Colombian People during Lockdown in Response to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study

“…In addition, it is important to note that there is a bidirectional reciprocal relationship between PA and sleep quality [ 56 , 57 ], as well as between PA and depression symptoms [ 58 , 59 ]; therefore, they may influence each other in such a way that poor sleep quality may contribute to low PA levels [ 60 ] and the presence of depression symptoms may contribute to low PA levels [ 59 ]; this bidirectional relationship has been observed in contexts other than the COVID-19 lockdown [ 61 , 62 ].…”

Differences in Physical Activity According to Age and Depression: Based on the 2014-2017 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

“…However, this result cannot explain the causal relationship between whether the lack of aerobic physical activity caused mental health problems or whether the aerobic physical activity decreased due to mental health problems. It can be said that it is more appropriate to understand that they interact with each other in both directions [15][16][17][18]. It is because physical activity affects neurotransmitters such as dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in the central nervous system [19], and conversely, these neurotransmitters are responsible for motivating the pursuit of physical activity [20].…”