Therapeutic Effects of Exercise: Wheel Running Reverses Stress-Induced Interference With Shuttle Box Escape

Exercise can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in humans, but therapeutic effects of exercise in an animal model of stress-related mood disorders have yet to be demonstrated. In the current study, the authors investigated the ability of wheel running to reverse a long-lasting interference wi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Behavioral neuroscience 2007-10, Vol.121 (5), p.992-1000
Main Authors: Greenwood, Benjamin N, Strong, Paul V, Dorey, Alyrene A, Fleshner, Monika
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult and adolescent clinical studies
Animal
Animal Learning
Animals
Anxiety
Behavioral psychophysiology
Biological and medical sciences
Body Weight - physiology
Conditioned Fear
Conditioning, Operant - physiology
Depression
Electroshock
Exercise
Exercise Therapy
Fear - physiology
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Helplessness
Major Depression
Male
Medical sciences
Mental disorders
Mood disorders
Motor Activity - physiology
Neurosciences
Physical Conditioning, Animal - physiology
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Psychomotor Performance - physiology
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Rats
Rats, Inbred F344
Reinforcement Schedule
Rodents
Shuttle Boxes
Stress
Stress, Psychological - psychology
Stress, Psychological - therapy
Studies
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Summary:Exercise can reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety in humans, but therapeutic effects of exercise in an animal model of stress-related mood disorders have yet to be demonstrated. In the current study, the authors investigated the ability of wheel running to reverse a long-lasting interference with shuttle box escape produced by uncontrollable stress. Rats who remained sedentary following uncontrollable foot shock demonstrated robust conditioned freezing behavior to the stressor environment and deficits in shuttle box escape learning. Voluntary access to running wheels for 6 weeks, but not 2 weeks, following uncontrollable foot shock reduced the expression of conditioned freezing and reversed the escape deficit. Results demonstrate a long-lasting interference with shuttle box escape that can be reversed by exercise in a duration-dependent fashion.
ISSN:0735-7044
1939-0084
DOI:10.1037/0735-7044.121.5.992