Acute Aerobic Exercise and Neuroplasticity in Depression

January 29, 2019 updated by: Medical University of South Carolina

The Benefits of Acute Aerobic Exercise on Neuroplastic Potential in Depression

Depression is associated with a disruption in the mechanisms that regulate neuroplasticity. Effective treatment and rehabilitation of depression, and other neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders, relies on neuroplasticity. Thus, identifying therapies that enhance neuroplasticity (neuroplastic adaptation) are vital in the comprehensive treatment of depression. Aerobic exercise training has been demonstrated to have antidepressant properties and single bouts of aerobic exercise may provide short-term improvements in affective states in depression. Furthermore, acute aerobic exercise may enhance the response to known neuroplasticity-inducing paradigms. However, it is unclear if aerobic exercise can influence neuroplasticity in depression and the neurobiological mechanisms underlying acute neuroplastic changes are not well understood in depressed and healthy cohorts. Thus, the purpose of this project is to examine the acute effects of aerobic exercise on neuroplastic, neurobiological, and mood indices of depression.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The investigators will determine the effects of exercising at two different intensities (compared to a control non-exercise condition) on neuroplastic potential in depressed and non-depressed subjects. To accomplish this aim, the investigators will have subjects ride a cycle ergometer at intensities set to elicit 35% (low) and 70% (high) of heart rate reserve (((220 - age) - resting heart rate) x 35% or 70%) + resting heart rate). Prior to, and immediately after exercise participants will have their neuroplastic potential tested via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), blood specimens sampled, and mood changes assessed (methods detailed below). These assessments will occur at these time points and then every 15 minutes for 1 hour after exercise.

Neuroplastic potential will be assessed using TMS. TMS-induced motor evoked potentials (MEP's) will be recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis as a way to measure changes in the excitability of the corticospinal tract in response to exercise and paired associative stimulation. Serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and cortisol levels will be obtained through blood specimen samples in order to examine the potential exercise-induced changes in known stress- and neuroplasticity-related biomarkers. Mood and affect will be surveyed using the Activation-Deactivation Checklist (AD ACL), feeling scale (FS), and felt arousal scale (FAS). These measures will permit the assessment of exercise-induced changes in mood and affect.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

38

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • South Carolina
      • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
        • Stroke Recovery Research Center

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 50 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For all:

  1. age 18-50 year old.
  2. ability to provide informed consent.

Further inclusion criteria for participants with depression:

  1. meets criteria for unipolar depression assessed using the Mini-international Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI)
  2. a Montgomery Asberg Depression Rating Scale (MADRS) score of 20 or greater
  3. current depressive episode began no longer than 3 years earlier
  4. psychoactive drug free or have maintained a stable dose of up to one antidepressant medication for four weeks prior to study participation

Further inclusion criteria for control participants:

  1. does not meet criteria for unipolar depression assessed using the MINI
  2. a MADRS score of 6 or less
  3. no history or previous diagnosis of depression

Exclusion Criteria (for all participants):

  • primary diagnosis of another Axis 1 disorder
  • secondary diagnosis of a psychotic disorder, cognitive disorder, substance-related disorder, or obsessive compulsive disorder
  • illicit drug use or alcohol abuse
  • current smoker
  • history of seizures
  • other diagnosed neurological or musculoskeletal disorder/injury, uncontrolled cardiovascular or metabolic disease
  • resting blood pressure > 200mmHg systolic or 100mmHg diastolic
  • electronic or metal implants
  • current participation in a structured exercise program
  • pregnancy

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Other
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Depressed and non-depressed controls
All participants will participate in three different conditions: Low intensity aerobic exercise and paired associative stimulation, high intensity aerobic exercise and paired associative stimulation, no exercise control and paired associative stimulation. The order of conditions will be randomized.
Behavioral: Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic exercise will be performed on a stationary cycle ergometer for 15 minutes at an intensity of 35% heart rate reserve or 70% heart rate reserve. During the control condition the participant will remain seated on the stationary cycle for 15 minutes and will not perform exercise.
Device: Paired Associative Stimulation
After aerobic exercise participants will receive a paired associative stimulation (PAS) paradigm. PAS consists of paired brain and peripheral nerve stimuli. Participants will receive 200 paired stimuli. Peripheral nerve stimulation will be delivered to the median nerve at the level of the wrist via electrical stimulation at 300% perceptual threshold. Brain stimulation will be delivered via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the hand knob of the motor cortex at an intensity that elicits a 1mV response in the contralateral abductor pollicis brevis muscle. During each paired stimulation, peripheral nerve stimulation will precede the TMS stimulation by 25ms.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in peak to peak MEP amplitude (mV)
Time Frame: From baseline to one hour post-PAS
From baseline to one hour post-PAS

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Change in serum BDNF (ng/ml)
Time Frame: From baseline to one hour post-exercise
From baseline to one hour post-exercise
Change in serum cortisol (ng/ml)
Time Frame: From baseline to one hour post-exercise
From baseline to one hour post-exercise

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Medical University of South Carolina

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Chris Gregory, P.T., Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 1, 2016

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 12, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 18, 2016

First Posted (Estimate)

July 21, 2016

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 30, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 29, 2019

Last Verified

January 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Pro#00050872

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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