New brain cells from exercise

 

A study has shown that exercise stimulates the formation of new brain cells.

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Previous research had proven that physical activity could have a similar effect to antidepressants on people who suffer from depression.
 
Now Astrid Bjørnebekk at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden 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.
 
She has also compared it with pharmacological treatment with an SSRI drug – a class of antidepressants (such as fluoxetine or sertraline) that block the reabsorption of the neurotransmitter serotonin by neurons.

The experiment studies were conducted on rats and 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 Bjørnebekk’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.  

Exercise’s other benefits

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 said.
 
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," explained Bjørnebekk.
 
"This might be significant in explaining why certain individuals develop depression more readily than others."
 

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