Habitual physical activity mediates the acute exercise-induced modulation of anxiety-related amygdala functional connectivity

Chen, Yi Chun; Chen, Chenyi; Martínez, Róger Marcelo; Etnier, Jennifer L.; Cheng, Yawei

doi:10.1038/s41598-019-56226-z

Cited by 38 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 61 publications

(69 reference statements)

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“…We found that higher fit participants experienced greater improvements in mood following the aerobic exercise. This accords with previous studies reporting that better fitness level [50] and regular exercise participation are associated with more positive affective responses [51–53] and enhanced anxiety relief [52,54] following a bout of exercise. Antinociceptive effects of acute exercise have also been found to depend on fitness level [55].…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Aerobic fitness is associated with cerebral mu-opioid receptor availability and activation in healthy humans

Saanijoki

Kantonen

Pekkarinen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Central μ-opioid receptors (MORs) modulate affective responses to physical exercise. Individuals with higher aerobic fitness report greater exercise-induced mood improvements than those with lower fitness, but the link between cardiorespiratory fitness and the MOR system remains unresolved. Here we tested whether maximal oxygen uptake (VO2peak) and physical activity level are associated with cerebral MOR availability, and whether these phenotypes predict endogenous opioid release following aerobic exercise. We studied 64 healthy lean men who performed a maximal incremental cycling test for VO2peak determination, completed a questionnaire assessing moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA, min/week), and underwent positron emission tomography with [11C]carfentanil, a specific radioligand for MOR. A subset of 24 subjects underwent additional PET scan also after a one-hour session of moderate-intensity exercise. Higher VO2peak and self-reported MVPA level was associated with larger decrease in cerebral MOR binding after aerobic exercise in ventral striatum, orbitofrontal cortex and insula. That is, higher fit and more trained individuals showed greater opioid release acutely following exercise in brain regions especially relevant for reward and cognitive processing. Higher VO2peak also associated with lower baseline BPND in the reward and pain circuits, i.e., in frontal and cingulate cortices as well as in temporal lobes and subcortically in thalamus and putamen. We conclude that higher aerobic fitness and regular exercise training may induce neuroadaptation within the MOR system which might contribute to improved emotional and behavioural responses associated with long-term exercise.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Aerobic fitness is associated with cerebral mu-opioid receptor availability and activation in healthy humans

Saanijoki

Kantonen

Pekkarinen

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…( 29 ) found higher odds for women than for men as regards inverse associations of PA with changes in perceived anxiety; such gender differences might be because both contextual and cultural differences contribute to influencing anxiety ( 30 , 31 ). Other differences among subgroups could result from the habits of performing PA, since previous studies have indicated a mediator effect of usual exposure to PA over acute anxiety responses ( 32 ). Also, the type of PA might play an important role in this association, since recent research has emphasized the effects of specific physical exercise such as high interval intensity training (HIIT) on mental health, showing higher improvements than moderate-intensity continuous training in individuals experiencing mental disorders ( 33 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Similarly, a significant body of work has observed improvements in mood state associated with higher levels of PA ( 34 , 35 ). Furthermore, not only were healthy populations that showed mood enhancement, but also populations with previous conditions ( 32 , 36 ); even short bouts of PA have been observed to improve mood in older adults ( 37 ). Particularly, the acute responses to low-intensity aerobic exercise were those that enhanced mood the most in young women when compared with responses to high-intensity aerobic exercise ( 37 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Association Between Current Physical Activity and Current Perceived Anxiety and Mood in the Initial Phase of COVID-19 Confinement

et al. 2020

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“…In particular, six studies did not perform neuroimaging using fMRI [80][81][82] or applied other neuroimaging techniques (e.g., functional near-infrared spectroscopy) [83][84][85]. The remaining 10 studies did not perform cognitive testing [86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][94] or did not report data because they describe a study protocol [95].…”

Section: Inclusion and Exclusion Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

The Contribution of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to the Understanding of the Effects of Acute Physical Exercise on Cognition

et al. 2020

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The fact that a single bout of acute physical exercise has a positive impact on cognition is well-established in the literature, but the neural correlates that underlie these cognitive improvements are not well understood. Here, the use of neuroimaging techniques, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), offers great potential, which is just starting to be recognized. This review aims at providing an overview of those studies that used fMRI to investigate the effects of acute physical exercises on cerebral hemodynamics and cognition. To this end, a systematic literature survey was conducted by two independent reviewers across five electronic databases. The search returned 668 studies, of which 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed in this systematic review. Although the findings of the reviewed studies suggest that acute physical exercise (e.g., cycling) leads to profound changes in functional brain activation, the small number of available studies and the great variability in the study protocols limits the conclusions that can be drawn with certainty. In order to overcome these limitations, new, more well-designed trials are needed that (i) use a more rigorous study design, (ii) apply more sophisticated filter methods in fMRI data analysis, (iii) describe the applied processing steps of fMRI data analysis in more detail, and (iv) provide a more precise exercise prescription.Brain Sci. 2020, 10, 175 2 of 31 improve cognitive domains, such as attention and/or cognitive control substantially, albeit only transiently [30][31][32][33]. However, the underlying neurobiological mechanisms of these effects are not yet fully understood. In this regard, the use of neuroimaging methods offers great potential for acquiring a deeper understanding of physical exercise-induced changes in the neural correlates of cognition, such as changes in functional brain activation [33][34][35]. The most common methods used to investigate effects on functional brain activation are functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) [34] and electroencephalography (EEG) [36,37]; however, also functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has recently been applied in the context of acute physical exercise and cognition [38,39]. The strengths of fNIRS and EEG compared to fMRI are a higher temporal resolution, greater portability, and applicability in almost all cohorts (e.g., for individuals with metallic implants or claustrophobia) [34,40,41]. However, fNIRS and EEG have a limited spatial resolution and only allow for the evaluation of brain activation patterns in cortical areas [41][42][43]. In comparison to fNIRS and EEG, fMRI enables the assessment of brain activation changes in cortical and subcortical areas and offers a higher spatial resolution, which results in superior source localization [42][43][44]. Hence, fMRI is well suited to study the influence of acute physical exercise on subcortical structures, such as the hippocampus, which have a crucial role in cognitive processes (e.g., memory) [45][46][47][48][49...

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Habitual physical activity mediates the acute exercise-induced modulation of anxiety-related amygdala functional connectivity

Cited by 38 publications

References 61 publications

Aerobic fitness is associated with cerebral mu-opioid receptor availability and activation in healthy humans

Aerobic fitness is associated with cerebral mu-opioid receptor availability and activation in healthy humans

Association Between Current Physical Activity and Current Perceived Anxiety and Mood in the Initial Phase of COVID-19 Confinement

The Contribution of Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging to the Understanding of the Effects of Acute Physical Exercise on Cognition

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