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 The benefits of exercise are hardly a secret. In addition to the endorphin high you get immediately after a brisk walk or a trip to the gym, regular exercise helps depression among other improvements. Not only does exercise have longer-term effects such as improving sleep, reducing stress, decreasing anxiety and raising self esteem (not to mention trimming your waistline), psychologists are beginning to understand the mechanisms behind exercise and depression. Numerous studies have shown that exercise acts as effectively as antidepressants or psychotherapy in treating depression. Scientists at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden have conducted a number of trials that show exercise and antidepressants seem to work in the very much the same way on the brain.  How Exercise Helps Depression Brain scans show that a small area in the temporal lobe of the brain grows smaller in depressed people. This area, called the hippocampus, is believed to regulate mood. Psychologists have observed that antidepressants and electroshock—a treatment for extreme depression—promote nerve growth in the area. Scientists believe this growth accounts at least in part for their effectiveness. Biopsychiatry.com writes that Swedish scientists demonstrated that exercise promotes the same sort of cellular growth in the hippocampus as drug and shock treatments. By studying two groups of rats, one with running wheels and the other without, the scientists found that the rats that exercised showed evidence of neurological growth in the hippocampus while the unexercised rats did not. Psychology School Research Proves Theories According to Nature.com, a new study released by the Yale School of Medicine sheds light on an underlying genetic mechanism that may account for this growth. Submitting two groups of mice to similar conditions as the rats in the Swedish research, the study found 33 genetic modifications in the exercised mice after a week's worth of workouts. Of particular interest was the expression of the gene Vgf, because other research had identified that this gene responds to electroshock. The scientists found that both exercise and infusion of Vgf into the brains of the mice produced similar effects as antidepressants. These tests have yet to be replicated on humans, but observational research suggests exercise has a profound and long-lasting effect on mood. ABC reports that a study conducted at Duke University found older patients with major depression who exercised daily for 16 weeks showed improvement that compared favorably to those taking antidepressants. Furthermore, in a six-month follow-up, depression returned in only 8 percent of the exercise group versus 38 percent for the drug-only group. Whether exercise will emerge as a commonly prescribed depression treatment like antidepressants or psychotherapy remains to be seen. But as science catches up with conventional wisdom long held by personal trainers and the physically fit, it certainly looks that way.  Find a Psychology School Today—Getting Your Psychology Degree is One Step Away! |
