EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON NEUROINFLAMMATION AND BRAIN TURNOVER IN PEOPLE WITH DEPRESSION. SCOPING REVIEW

K.M. Alvis-Gómez^1,2, H.C. Ballen-Capera^3,2,1, M. Ramírez-González^3,1,2

¹Universidad Nacional de Colombia (National University of Colombia), Departamento del Movimiento Corporal Humano (Department of Human Body Movement), Bogotá, D.C., Colombia, ²Mechanics and Neuromechanics Movement Analysis Research Group, Department of Human Body Movement, National University of Colombia (Universidad Nacional de Colombia), Bogotá, D.C., Colombia, ³Physiotherapy Programme, Department of Human Body Movement, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia

Background: Depression is a condition that has been on the rise in recent years. In the year 2021, depression is estimated to affect 3.8% of the population, including 5% of adults and 5.7% of adults over 60 years of age (OMS, 2021). Exercise has been shown to have antidepressant effects from mechanisms such as increased social interaction, a distraction from negative thoughts, mastery of new skills, changes in endorphin and monoamine levels, reduction in cortisol levels, growth of new nerve cells, and the release of proteins known to improve nerve cell health and survival (Cooney et al., 2013).

Purpose: Systematize and describe the effects of aerobic exercise on neuroinflammation and brain rotation in people with depression.

Methods: Scoping Review, which includes accessible documents in PubMed, Cochrane Library, Science Direct, and Scielo, between 2012-2022. The search and systematization of the information were carried out through the following search strategies based on MeSH terms (Depression, Depressive Disorder, Aerobic Exercise, Brain Rotation, Neuroinflammatory Diseases as a Boolean term “AND”. A selection of documents will be made according to the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

Results: Exercise is presented as a coadjuvant or individual therapy in the management of depression (Deslandes et al., 2009; Villegas, 2010), since it has been shown to have antidepressant effects from mechanisms such as increased social interaction, the distraction of negative thoughts, mastery of new skills, changes in endorphin and monoamine levels, reduction in cortisol levels, growth of new nerve cells, and release of proteins known to improve nerve cell health and survival (Cooney et al., 2013). Its use is both in therapy and in prevention.
At a physiological level, the use of exercise in depressive symptoms is related to its anti-inflammatory effects by reducing blood levels of TNF-α and interleukins (Paolucci et al., 2018; Handschin and Spiegelman, 2008), and its role in regulatory mechanisms of the HPA axis, involving the reorganization of physiological activities inherent in the restoration of oxidative balance and the reduction of inflammatory processes (Ignácio et al., 2019).
Therefore, it is based on this evidence that the hypothesis is raised that exercise represents a decrease in neuroinflammation and an improvement in the performance of higher cognitive functions such as mental rotation during pathological processes such as depression.

Conclusions: Aerobic exercise had been demonstrated to have positive effects on improving cognitive competencies in mental rotation and diminishing neuroinflammation in people with depression.

Implications: The study explores the power of aerobic physical exercise in improving cognitive and physiological conditions that occur in mental health disorders.

Funding acknowledgements: UNIVERSIDAD NACIONAL DE COLOMBIA (National University of Colombia)

Keywords:
Depression
Aerobic Exercise
Mental Rotation

Topics:
Mental health
Health promotion & wellbeing/healthy ageing/physical activity
Mental health

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Universidad Nacional de Colombia

Committee: Ethics Committee Faculty of Medicine - National University of Colombia

Ethics number: CE-0139-22