{"id":7402,"date":"2021-08-13T18:42:33","date_gmt":"2021-08-13T10:42:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/?p=7402"},"modified":"2021-08-13T18:42:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-13T10:42:34","slug":"physical-activity-jolts-brain-into-action-in-the-event-of-depression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/physical-activity-jolts-brain-into-action-in-the-event-of-depression\/","title":{"rendered":"Physical activity jolts brain into action in the event of depression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The dual beneficial effect of physical activity in depression is confirmed by a study at the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at Ruhr-Universit\u00e4t Bochum (RUB) at the Ostwestfalen-Lippe campus: physical activity not only reduces depressive symptoms. It also increases the brain\u2019s ability to change, which is necessary for adaptation and learning processes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe results show how important seemingly simple things like physical activity are in treating and preventing illnesses such as depression,\u201d says study leader associate professor Dr. Karin Rosenkranz. The study was published in the journal\u00a0Frontiers in Psychiatry<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Exercise programme promotes motivation and togetherness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

People with depression often withdraw and are physically inactive. To investigate the effect of physical activity, Karin Rosenkranz\u2019s working group enlisted 41 people, who were undergoing treatment at the hospital, for the study. The participants were each assigned to one of two groups, one of which completed a three-week exercise programme. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The programme, which was developed by the sports science team from the University of Bielefeld led by Professor Thomas Schack, was varied, contained fun elements, and did not take the form of a competition or test, but instead required teamwork from the participants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis specifically promoted motivation and social togetherness while breaking down a fear of challenges and negative experiences with physical activity \u2013 such as school PE lessons,\u201d explains Karin Rosenkranz. The other group took part in a control programme without physical activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The study team ascertained the severity of the depressive symptoms, such as a loss of drive and interest, lack of motivation and negative feelings, both before and after the programme. The brain\u2019s ability to change, known as neuroplasticity, was also measured. It can be determined externally with the help of transcranial magnetic stimulation. \u201cThe ability to change is important for all of the brain\u2019s learning and adaptation processes,\u201d explains Karin Rosenkranz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ability to change increased \u2013 symptoms decreased<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The results show that the brain\u2019s ability to change is lower in people with depression than in healthy people. Following the programme with physical activity, this ability to change increased significantly and achieved the same values as healthy people. At the same time, depressive symptoms decreased in the group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe more the ability to change increased, the more clearly the clinical symptoms decreased,\u201d summarises Karin Rosenkranz. These changes were not so pronounced in the group who took part in the control programme. \u201cThis shows that physical activity has an effect on symptoms and the brain\u2019s ability to change. We cannot say to what extent the change in symptoms and the brain\u2019s ability to change are causally linked based on this data,\u201d says the doctor, referring to the limitations. \u201cIt is known that physical activity does the brain good, as it, for instance, promotes the formation of neuron connections. This could certainly also play a role here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The results show that the brain\u2019s ability to change is lower in people with depression than in healthy people. Following the programme with physical activity, this ability to change increased significantly and achieved the same values as healthy people. At the same time, depressive symptoms decreased in the group.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7403,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[802,2269,848],"class_list":["post-7402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsmakers","tag-exercise","tag-mental-exercise","tag-mental-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7402"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7404,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7402\/revisions\/7404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zestmag.com\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}